Description
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.
