Security expert urges new regional models of consensus

Former national security adviser Jose Almonte has urged Asean nations to persevere in finding new models of consensus to preserve regional peace amid efforts by world powers to expand influence.

Speaking at a workshop on a joint US-Asean agenda for peace in Singapore, Almonte urged member-states "to seek a new balance between national sovereignty and regional purpose."

He pointed out that deeper economic integration and political cooperation are unavoidable at a time of rapid technological change, migratory capital and globalization.

"Despite the limitations of institutionalized mushawarah and mufakat (consultation and consensus), even critics concede that the Asean has been one of the most successful sub-regional groupings in international politics," Almonte said.

Experts agreed that Asean has balanced competing interests of the great powers and seized the initiative on security problems.

Almonte noted that the insistence of respecting the diversity of member-countries has eased the resolution of bilateral disputes, making conflict within the association all but unthinkable.

The immediate task, he said, is finding a way to transcend the uneven economic and political development of Asean's 10 member-states.

"The Asean Free Trade Area has factored in the different growth levels within the region, allowing less-developed members to join later than the original signatories," Almonte said.

However, he pointed out that vast differences in political systems still prevent Asean from forging a consensus on human rights.

The Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia are transitional and exuberant democracies. Singapore still suppresses political opposition through the Internal Security Act handed down by British colonial masters. Brunei is a Malay sultanate, Vietnam a communist single-party sate, and Myanmar a harsh military regime.

In establishing close integration, Almonte said Asean has to consider "the sensitivities of states whose nationhood is still being formed."

Nationalism, he noted, is based on historical vulnerability to the interventions and influence of outside powers.