New Indo-Pacific Defense Partnership Gets Thailand Addition
Plus new partnership launch; big coming trade agreement deadline; debt trap escape plan; quiet maritime tech handover; counter-scam move and much, much more.
Greetings to new readers and welcome all to the latest edition of the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief! If you haven’t already, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for $5 a month/$50 a year below to receive full posts by inserting your email address and then selecting an annual or monthly option. You can visit this page for more on pricing for institutions, groups as well as discounts. For current paid subscribers, please make sure you’re hitting the “view entire message” prompt if it comes up at the end of a post to see the full version.
For this iteration of ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief, we are looking at:
Assessing the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of key new regional additions to an Indo-Pacific defense partnership;
Mapping of regional developments, including a new strategic partnership launch and coming leadership reshuffle;
Charting evolving geopolitical, geoeconomic and security trends such as big coming trade pact deadline; debt trap escape plan and counter-scam move;
Tracking and analysis of industry developments and quantitative indicators including quiet maritime tech handover; new sectoral mechanism kickoff; cyber capacity-building exchange and more;
And much more! ICYMI, check out our ASEAN Wonk review earlier in the week of a new book co-authored by a former chief economist which lays out future geoeconomic strategies beyond trade wars and flashpoint shocks;
This Week’s WonkCount: 2,507 words (~11 minutes)
New Strategic Partnership Launch; Coming Leadership Reshuffle & More
New Geoeconomic World Chatter; Trading Order Assessment & Taiwan Indo-Pacific Connections
“Despite shared apprehension over Beijing’s expanding reach in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Australia and Taiwan engagement within broader regional partnerships or initiatives has to date been limited, if not wholly absent,” according to findings from a report released by the U.S. Studies Center in Sydney analyzing priorities for bilateral, regional and global engagement in Australia-Taiwan relations. Southeast Asia features in several aspects covered by the report, including links to geoeconomic engagement via the CPTPP trade agreement and a focus on countering gray zone coercion (link).
“For countries across Southeast Asia and the broader Global South, this evolving context does not necessarily call for immediate or dramatic policy realignment,” cautions a new commentary published by CSIS Indonesia analyzing recent developments in the global geoeconomic landscape. The commentary notes that “maintaining flexibility” on policy questions will be key for countries as they manage complex and fluid systemic changes globally, including doubling down on the model of open regionalism (link).
“These agreements send a powerful geopolitical signal that participating countries want to trade and cooperate on predictable, rule-based terms,” according to a new piece published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics on the prospects for the European Union leading a “new world order” in trade including through new free trade pacts with Southeast Asian states. The commentary notes that while the EU’s efforts to diversify ties with countries are welcome, Europe itself “must stay open” to remain a trustworthy partner rather than alienating partners by making trade and investment more difficult (link).
New Indo-Pacific Defense Partnership Gets Thailand Addition
What’s Behind It
Southeast Asia was among the regions in the focus with the publicizing of membership expansion in a key new U.S.-led defense arrangement1. The development was just the latest highlighting regional security engagement beyond headlines around trade deals and Middle East conflict, with officials also highlighting interactions gradually taking shape in what are designated “priority geoeconomic sectors” such as artificial intelligence, energy and critical minerals beyond publicized datapoints like the rebranded Pax Silica summit meeting2. Washington has also been working with partners to build out tangible examples of positive regional geoeconomic cooperation even amid uncertainty around flashpoints and trade wars, with recent case in point spotlighted by U.S. officials in briefings with interlocutors being the convening of an energy security ministerial with Japan which produced new collaboration outcomes with four Southeast Asian states in areas like nuclear power and addition to Indo-Pacific partners such as Australia, India and South Korea3.
Select Key Related Security Developments Amid New Indo-Pacific Defense Partnership Additions
The development occurred alongside other security-related interactions that spotlighted the complexities of regional responses to partner engagements. Malaysian government officials rushed to clarify the country’s approach to foreign vessels following opposition to the docking of twin U.S. ships that quickly spilled over into the public domain, prompting additional communications from other regional governments as well after the fallout including in neighboring Singapore4. Meanwhile, at the same time, quieter examples of security cooperation continued between Washington and other Indo-Pacific states through various channels in other parts of the region as well, including the sharing of maritime domain awareness platforms and expanding military exercises of various kinds with partners that largely flew under the radar5.
Why It Matters
The dynamics also spotlighted datapoints to watch with wider regional and global implications (see originally generated ASEAN Wonk table below on notable areas to monitor and additional specifics. Paying subscribers can read on for more on what to expect and future implications in the rest of the “Why It Matters” and “Where It’s Headed” sections, along with paid-only sections of the newsletter as usual).
Key Policy Datapoints to Watch, Alongside Priority Areas and Select Major Initiatives
