The ten countries of ASEAN each offer much promise, and collectively form a heterogeneous mix of cultures, religions, and opportunities.
Until recently, the unwritten rules of ASEAN were that there should be no political interference.
This has been challenged by the unresolved issues of overlapping claims for islands in the South China Sea, with some ASEAN members being angry at China for their incursions into what they see as territorial waters. Much more recently, the dreadful treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar’s western Rakhine province has brought disruption to ASEAN. Malaysia has not been happy with the ASEAN chair’s statement on what is going on in Myanmar.
20 years on from the Asian financial crisis that brought the richest of the ASEAN countries close to their knees the issues that face ASEAN are mostly political. 2018 will see General Elections in Cambodia, Malaysia and possibly Thailand. The next 12 months will see the soft Batik material of ASEAN stretched to the seams.