| MA in Southeast Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University
Thesis title:
ASEAN AND LOW-LEVEL SECURITY COOPERATION
Author:
Mr. Johannes Lund
Thesis advisor:
Associate Professor Dr. Withaya Sucharithanarugse
Keywords:
ASEAN, HUMAN SECURITY, REGIONAL COOPERATION, SOUTHEAST ASIA
Abstract:
There is currently an extensive academic as well as political discussion concerning what has become known as human security issues. Human security issues focus on securing the individual against a wide range of security threats; political, economical, as well as social and cultural. However this widening of the political and academic security agenda is not without its problems. Most importantly this new focus lacks practical applicability. It is further limited by the questionable practicality of focusing solely on the individual in an environment characterized by various degrees of authoritarian government whose concern might still be centered on political and state survival.
In this thesis the author offers and alternative security approach focusing on threat impact level and probability. The study goes through low-level security issues, i.e. those which have a slow impact but has a high probability of occurring. The threats are measured against the individual as well as the political elite.
In the thesis the author shows that these threats are primarily regional and are therefore best addressed within a regional context. He further shows that these pose a very real threat to a large number of individuals and that they have the potential of being politically destabilizing. He then moves on from that point and examines the foundations for cooperation within the ASEAN framework.
The study concludes by showing that the primary obstacle to co-operation lies in the structural constraints posed by the way project evaluation and implementation is organized within ASEAN, in conjunction with difficulties surrounding the consensus and non-interference norms of the “ASEAN way”.
The author proposes a strengthening of the ASEAN secretariat and the development of greater research capacity for regional security issues. He further argues that the follow up of the implementation must be taken away from the implementing bodies themselves, in this case the national secretariats, in favor of an adequately funded ASEAN body.
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