INSTRUMENTS OF ASEAN RESILIENCE AMIDST THE CRISES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article undertakes a comparative analysis of ASEAN resilience instruments amidst the three most severe socio-economic crises that the union has faced over the past 25 years. These are the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 global financial crisis and the corona crisis from early 2020 to the present. All three cases reveal similarities in ASEAN’s response models to socio-economic shocks, which is limited to three tools. In the analyzed cases active "institution building" in Southeast Asia can be identified. It included the launch of formal and informal committees, platforms, and ad hoc response centers. To a lesser extent, this is relevant to ASEAN's response to the 2008 crisis. With the exception of the global financial crisis, the greatest contribution to the stress-resistance of the association was made by ASEAN dialogue partners, which, as experience shows, led to an increased dependence of the member-states on financial assistance from extra-regional actors. This is clearly exemplified by cooperation in the ASEAN+3 format. A similar instrument to ensure ASEAN's resilience in all three cases is the reliance on foreign trade liberalization and promotion of free trade agreements. This instrument became particularly necessary after the global financial crisis of 2008, when the Association developed an exten-sive FTAs system.