One small step towards a more secure region
Attacks by militant Islamists, growing sea piracy and a continuing struggle against drugs and people smuggling are Southeast Asia's biggest security challenges. They are issues the region's nations would like to have under control, but some governments are struggling to deal with.
A combined regional effort through the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations would make tackling such problems easier, although no mechanisms exist beyond intelligence sharing and bilateral agreements. The grouping's golden rule is, after all, non-interference in the domestic affairs of member states.
Asean is learning slowly that this policy is counterproductive: The threat of health risks like bird flu and Sars has forced co-operation where normally there would have been none, while the tsunami in 2004 showed what is possible when the need arises.
That is why a landmark meeting of Asean's defence ministers in Malaysia tomorrow holds such promise. With concerted effort, the formative ties can be built and eventually expanded to deal with threats that were until recent years seen as domestic in nature, but in reality affected the entire region.
The defence chiefs and 10 of their counterparts from the Pacific, US and Europe already meet at a yearly security gathering in Singapore, prompted by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001. Not until tomorrow, though, will each minister be able to discuss in an Asean forum specific security concerns and priorities and receive a frank exchange of views.
For now, not much will be achieved beyond that; Southeast Asia is a diverse mix of ethnic, racial, religious and political entities with a history of conflict and territorial disputes. Outwardly, through Asean, the governments like to portray a united image, but as the recent acrimonious collapse of talks between Singapore and Malaysia over a bridge between their nations shows, animosities run deep.
Those divisions and differences make a regional peacekeeping or European Union-style rapid reaction force difficult, for example, even though it would have been useful in tsunami-affected countries or could help bring stability to southern Thailand. Europe achieved this only in 2004, though, despite the greater integration of its nations and prosperity.
There is no talk of such a force among Asean's states and until it evolves in coming decades, Southeast Asia will continue to be reliant on the United Nations, US, Europe and Australia to help with its security needs. Similarly, despite economic co-operation moving forward quickly, development of closely entwined bodies to tackle piracy, drugs and people smuggling will be a gradual process necessitating help from beyond the region.
But the meeting in Kuala Lumpur reveals that Asean has at least started to move decisively in the right direction.
