Abstract

Since it was founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has attracted both sceptics and proponents. With Southeast Asia’s economy growing rapidly and tied into all parts of the global economy and the region geopolitically important to the world’s major powers, how ASEAN manages its internal affairs and East Asian relations is crucial. The differences in how sceptics and proponents perceive ASEAN, and why they take up such contrasting positions, need to be fully appreciated as scholars and commentators review and assess ASEAN’s performance. This analysis uses three analytical criteria – effectiveness, legitimacy and efficiency – to juxtapose and evaluate the competing arguments of the two approaches so as to better understand how and why sceptics and proponents can examine the same institutions and events and reach very different conclusions.

摘要

自1967年成立以来，东南亚国家联盟（ASEAN）吸引了怀疑者和支持者。随着东南亚经济的快速增长，并融入全球经济的各个部分，并且该地区在地理上对世界主要大国具有重要的政治意义，东盟如何管理其内政和东亚关系至关重要。怀疑论者和拥护者对东盟的看法以及他们为什么采取这样的对立立场的差异，需要在学者和评论员审查和评估东盟的表现时得到充分理解。此分析使用三个分析标准–有效性，