BISA 2026 Conference

After the Cold War, states and regional organisations have engaged in cooperation beyond their regional boundaries, for example by enlarging its cooperation, establishing diplomatic initiatives, or creating institutionalised space for cooperation with extra-regional great powers. This expansion of regional cooperation is known as ‘trans-regionalism’. This article advances a new interpretation of how and why small and middle powers engage in transregional cooperation. Drawing on the case of ASEAN, I argue that the small and middle powers engage in trans-regional encounters to resolve their geopolitical anxiety. ASEAN, primarily, attempts to resolve this geopolitical anxiety by expressing its normative vision of order –defending sovereignty, non-interference, and institutionalised cooperation— and providing institutional spaces to engage with great after the Cold War. While this normative ordering strategy has worked under liberal international order (1990s and 2000s), ASEAN’s effort to address its geopolitical anxiety was limited under US-China multipolar strategic competition (2010s-present). My assessment provides a new conceptual framework to understand the contemporary politics of trans-regionalism from the perspective of small and middle powers.

East Asia in turmoil? domestic and international challenges

Description

This paper examines the impact of China’s industrial technology investment on Southeast Asia, focusing primarily on the digital and tech sectors and the impact of ‘robotification’ (i.e. industrial automation). We examine the socio-economic effects of robotification in China and Southeast Asia, and tracing them at the domestic, regional and global levels. The phenomenon of ‘dark factories’ - where lights are left off and work is undertaken by robots alone - are a striking symbol of the impact of robotification. China’s deployment of robots in the manufacturing sector has an impact on the manufacturing and technology sectors but also creates unemployment, job loss as well as changes to the socio-economic chains. The mass layoff of SOE workers -‘xiagang’ - which dominated Chinese domestic politics two decades ago, is now an issue that links China and Southeast Asia. The implications of mass redundancies, unemployment, under-employment, and associated socio-economic harms, point to current and future turmoil; a result the large-scale deployment of efficiency improving technologies and closer economic relations with China. We address questions about the extent to which these forms of investment are creating turmoil and how this affects regional and global economic order.

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