"ASEAN And Ukraine: Non-Alignment Via Multi-Alignment?" - By CWP Alum Cheng-Chwee Kuik

The devastation resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to spread. Coming on the heels of the COVID pandemic and a downward spiral in U.S.-China relations, the conflict is a human tragedy. It has thrown into stark relief existing geo-political tensions, the variance in national responses, and different visions of security structures for an era of radical uncertainty. Russia’s blatant invasion and the brutality of the conflict are unquestionable. What surprises is the variation in responses. The unity in NATO and among US allies has taken form in a chorus of condemnation, massive military, diplomatic and economic support for the Zelensky government, and a series of sanctions against Russia. Yet governments in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while usually expressing alarm and abhorrence, have been far less willing to participate in the sanctions or support the Western narrative on the causes of the war. Far more so than at the outbreak of the Cold War in the mid-20th century, the list is lengthy of countries unpersuaded by the US and European calls to arms and strengthened alliances or for framing this as a battle between democracy and autocracy. Despite sharp differences, neither India nor China is lining up with the  West. Most others in the developing world along with a sizeable list of middle- income countries aren’t either.  This time round, The Rest matter a great deal more in terms of population...

http://www.taiheinstitute.org/Content/2022/07-03/1726334336.html

Cheng-Chwee Kuik (郭清水) is Professor in International Relations and Head of the Centre for Asian Studies, Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM). He is concurrently a Non-resident Fellow at Johns Hopkins’ Foreign Policy Institute. Previously, Cheng-Chwee was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Princeton-Harvard “China and the World” Program and a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Department of Politics and International Relations. Professor Kuik’s research focuses on smaller state foreign policy, Asian security, and international relations. He served as Head of the Writing Team for the Government of Malaysia’s inaugural Defence White Paper (2020). Cheng-Chwee’s publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and edited books. Dr. Kuik’s essay, “The Essence of Hedging”, won the Michael Leifer Memorial Prize awarded by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He is co-editor (with Alice Ba and Sueo Sudo) of Institutionalizing East Asia (2016), co-author (with David M. Lampton and Selina Ho) of Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia (2020), and author of the chapter on ASEAN and Southeast Asian states for David Shambaugh’s International Relations of Asia, 3rd edition (2022). His current projects include: hedging in international relations, elite legitimation and foreign policy choices, and the geopolitics of infrastructure connectivity cooperation. Cheng-Chwee serves on the editorial boards/committees of Contemporary Southeast Asia, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Asian Politics and Policy, International Journal of Asian Studies, and East Asian Policy. He is a member of the newly established Council on Indo-Pacific Relations (CIPR), EWC in Washington (EWCW). He holds an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Photo Credit: https://pixabay.com/users/alexandra_koch-621802/