Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: International relations in Southeast Asia is a process characterized by the parallel processes of constructing domestic and regional orders – the first through post-colonial state-building and the second through international organizations, specifically ASEAN. Several IR approaches do not consider this dynamic because of their assumption that states are unitary and coherent actors on the world stage. In a post-colonial context there may be multiple and competing centers of authority which could affect the creation and implementation of decisions reached in regional organizations. Alternative approaches take this context into account, but they are also of limited utility because of their claim that concerns for sovereignty override other considerations.

I argue that an “analytically eclectic” institutional framework can be useful in understanding the dynamics of international relations in Southeast Asia. This institutional framework draws from IR, comparative politics, history, area studies, Third World studies, and (to some extent) sociology. This framework views institutional development (at the national and regional levels) as a product of both structure and agency. It hopes to account for both continuity and change in institutions, as well as show the recursive dynamics between ASEAN and state-building processes.