 The Paradox of ASEAN Security Community: Arms Dynamic and the Culture of Militarism in Southeast AsiaMohamad Rosyidin International Studies, 2024, vol. 61, issue 2, 127-144 Abstract: It is generally understood that ASEAN has proclaimed itself as a security community since it has a strong commitment to the culture of peace among its members. ASEAN remains a community of states that puts national interests on the top priority of interstate relations in the region. Therefore, ASEAN members are concerned more about their survival rather than bearing the responsibility to strengthen ASEAN as an institution. Despite the existence of the culture of peace within the region, ASEAN is characterized by the acceleration of arms dynamic in which every country increases its defence budget as well as improves their military capabilities. Against this backdrop, this article argues that regional arms dynamic among ASEAN member states would have serious consequences for the prospect of the ASEAN security community. Instead of fostering the culture of peace, it would perpetuate the culture of militarism as well as prevent collective identity building as a prerequisite for establishing a security community. This tendency creates a paradox that represents ASEAN’s unpreparedness to establish a long-lasting security community. Keywords: ASEAN security community; arms dynamic; culture of militarism; collective identity building (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:intstu:v:61:y:2024:i:2:p:127-144 DOI: 10.1177/00208817241298406 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Studies |
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