Author: Sanchita Basu Das, ISEAS

ASEAN concluded its 20th Summit on 4 April 2012. The discussion shifted away from building an ASEAN Community, to debates over territorial disputes in the South China Sea between China, Taiwan and four ASEAN member states (the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam).

There was significant debate on whether China should be invited to take part in the drafting of the code of conduct, envisioned as a legally binding document to prevent small incidents in the South China Sea from escalating into bigger conflicts. Read more…

Author: Rajiv Kumar, FICCI

According to some media reports the Delhi BRICS summit, fourth for the original grouping with Brazil, Russia, India and China as its members, and the second since South Africa was co-opted at Sanya, did not set the Yamuna River (in New Delhi, where it was held on 29 March) on fire. The outcomes were perceived by some as below expectations.

Expectations have been high since the Sanya summit, hosted by China last year, which generated unprecedented media hype and high-voltage atmospherics. Read more…

Author: Rodolfo C. Severino, ISEAS

For the second time in ASEAN’s history, Cambodia has taken over the chairmanship of this ten-nation association.

It first chaired ASEAN in 2002–03, when the country had been a member for only three years. Yet the world and the region have changed considerably in the last 10 years. Read more…

Author: Zhang Yunling, CASS

Since China’s reform and opening-up policies began in the 1970s, the country’s average annual economic growth rate has hovered around 10 per cent.

Currently, China’s gross domestic product is second only to the United States; it is the world’s largest exporter and importer and the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. Along with China’s remarkable economic rise comes an increase in China’s role in both regional and global development and governance. Read more…

Author: Wendy Dobson, University of Toronto

The euro crisis hijacked the G20 Summit in Cannes — even by late December Europe’s leaders still had not fully diagnosed the problem, but without an accurate diagnosis how can there be an effective prescription?

This missing link accentuates two challenges that Asian integration will face in 2012: the consolidation of regional architecture and the need for deeper structural adjustments. Read more…

Author: Shinji Takagi, Osaka University

The unfolding euro crisis makes clear the difficulty of managing a single monetary policy among a group of countries that retain separate fiscal policies and regulatory rules over national banking systems. The lessons for Asia are profound.

In order to help save the euro, in December 2011, European leaders agreed to impose binding limits on national budgets and borrowing, with penalties for those who violate them. Read more…

Author: Christopher Findlay, University of Adelaide

The weather was awful outside the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva last week, but there was some sunshine within the convention centre.

Russia acceded as a member, along with Samoa, Montenegro and Vanuatu (the club still attracts new members, and as one minister said: ‘as far as I know, nobody has asked to leave’). Read more…

Author: Kirill Muradov, HSE

With the conclusion of the APEC meetings in Honolulu in November, another yearly cycle is about to draw to a close.

Soon all eyes will turn to Russia as the next host, with the 2012 summit scheduled for early September in Vladivostok. Leading APEC will be Russia’s most significant multilateral undertaking since hosting the G8 in 2006. Observers are curious to see what a Russian agenda will entail and what goals will be set for APEC in 2012. Adding to this significance, APEC is the first — and only — major Asia Pacific forum where Russia can hold the chair. Read more…

Author: Peter Drysdale, Editor, East Asia Forum

In Washington and Beijing last week there were important meetings that are likely to be influential in where the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations on regional trade arrangements lead down the track.

In Washington, the US administration called in ambassadors from the eight negotiating partners to up the ante on an early deal. Read more…

Author: Joel Rathus, ANU

The global financial crisis forced East Asian nations to get serious about regional architecture.

As global trade entered a precarious decline during the height of the crisis in 2008–09, one of the obvious areas of focus for East Asia was trade regionalism, aimed at making East Asia a more efficient production network and, over time, a final market in its own right. Read more…

Author: Andrew Fragomeli, University of Western Australia

Barack Obama championed high-quality growth as a key focus of this year’s APEC Summit in Hawaii.

But this goal can only be realised if APEC members choose to jump the hurdle of behind-the-border barriers. Read more…

Author: Jacob Kierkegaard, PIIE

The G20 Summit in Cannes probably made its most important contribution to global financial stability and economic growth before it even commenced.

The summit, held 3–4 November, became a deadline for European leaders to deal decisively with the economic and financial crises in the euro zone. Read more…

Author: Ralf Emmers, RSIS

The US recently participated in the East Asia Summit (EAS) for the first time — a decision that has wider implications for US–ASEAN relations.

The decision to join the EAS is part of a recalibration of US foreign policy vis-à-vis ASEAN-led multilateral institutions. This shift in policy reflects a broader attempt by the US to re-engage with Southeast Asia — after years of perceived indifference — and is equally related to China’s growing influence in the Asia Pacific region. Read more…

Authors: David Capie, Victoria University; and Amitav Acharya, American University

This week President Obama will join seventeen other Asian leaders in Bali for the Sixth East Asia Summit (EAS).

With a tough economy at home and the decision of the Congressional ‘super-committee’ on the federal budget only days away, this is hardly a good time for a US president to be out of the country. Obama’s decision to participate in the EAS for the first time in Bali is therefore a powerful symbol of a shift in American policy towards Asia. It also says much about the evolving nature of regional cooperation. Read more…

Author: Gary Hawke, NZIER

While in Honolulu for the APEC summit recently, President Obama announced a 12-month timeframe to complete negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Some have welcomed this development, but, in truth, it is a disappointing one. Read more…