ASEAN's Myanmar Crisis: Challenges to the Pursuit of a Security Community

5. Myanmar's Membership in ASEAN: Historical and Contemporary Implications

107 5 MYANMAR’S MEMBERSHIP IN ASEAN: Historical and Contemporary Implications Previous฀chapters฀in฀this฀analysis฀considered฀the฀historical฀implications฀ and฀contemporary฀challenges฀of฀domestic฀instability฀in฀Myanmar.฀This฀ has฀included฀an฀analysis฀of฀such฀issues฀as฀human฀rights฀and฀environmental฀ exploitation,฀various฀transnational฀security฀challenges,฀and฀the฀strategic฀impact฀ of฀Myanmar’s฀relations฀with฀Thailand฀and฀China.฀In฀particular,฀the฀analysis฀ identified฀that฀while฀the฀likelihood฀of฀wide-scale฀armed฀conflict฀between฀ Myanmar฀and฀Thailand฀is฀currently฀little฀more฀than฀a฀remote฀possibility,฀ it฀is฀not฀unforeseeable.฀This฀possibility฀in฀itself฀excludes฀the฀existence฀of฀a฀ security฀community.฀Further,฀the฀analysis฀has฀also฀suggested฀certain฀difficulties฀ as฀far฀as฀the฀community฀aspect฀of฀the฀theory฀is฀concerned.฀In฀this฀context,฀ this฀chapter฀explores฀how฀the฀failure฀of฀the฀SPDC฀to฀respond฀to฀a฀policy฀of฀ constructive฀engagement฀has฀affected฀both฀ASEAN’s฀international฀stature฀ and,฀more฀specifically,฀its฀cohesion.฀As฀later฀analysis฀will฀demonstrate,฀the฀ Myanmar฀issue฀has฀forced฀some฀elites฀within฀ASEAN฀to฀question฀the฀primacy฀ of฀the฀ASEAN฀Way,฀including฀its฀principle฀of฀non-interference.฀In฀turn,฀this฀ has฀exacerbated฀the฀divide฀between฀those฀who฀want฀reform฀in฀the฀Association฀ and฀those฀who฀wish฀to฀retain฀the฀status฀quo.฀Given฀the฀fundamental฀nature฀ of฀the฀principle฀of฀non-interference฀to฀the฀operation฀of฀ASEAN,฀continued฀ normative฀divisions฀will฀also฀inhibit฀the฀emergence฀of฀an฀elite-level฀collective฀ identity.฀An฀understanding฀of฀these฀consequences฀is฀vital฀to฀the฀concluding฀ analysis฀in฀the฀final฀chapter.฀ 05฀AseanMyanC.indd฀฀฀107 11/20/09฀฀฀1:54:54฀PM 108 ASEAN’s Myanmar Crisis THE ASEAN WAY AND NON-INTERFERENCE — A NORMATIVE SYNOPSIS Regional฀scholars฀such฀as฀Kusuma฀Snitwongse฀have฀interpreted฀the฀language฀ of฀the฀Bangkok฀Declaration฀that฀established฀ASEAN฀—฀including฀the฀ members’฀“stability฀and฀security฀from฀external฀interference”฀—฀as฀an฀elite฀ move฀to฀deepen฀the฀salience฀of฀a฀number฀of฀normative฀rules฀that฀provide฀the฀ basis฀of฀what฀has฀become฀known฀as฀the฀ASEAN฀Way.฀The฀core฀components฀ of฀the฀ASEAN฀Way฀are฀(i)฀consensus-based฀decision฀making;฀(ii)฀a฀respect฀ for฀national฀sovereignty;฀and฀(iii)฀non-interference฀in฀the฀domestic฀affairs฀ of฀others.1 ฀Such฀an฀interpretation,฀at฀least฀as฀far฀as฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀ASEAN฀ is฀concerned,฀is฀also฀supported฀by฀the฀Bangkok฀Declaration’s฀reference฀to฀ the฀principles฀of฀the฀United฀Nations฀Charter฀which,฀among฀other฀things,฀ includes฀the฀principle฀of฀non-interference2 ฀—฀a฀well฀established฀principle฀ of฀the฀modern฀Westphalian฀state฀system.3 ฀However,฀the฀behaviour฀of฀the฀ member฀states฀tended฀to฀reflect฀this฀normative฀ideal฀only฀when฀faced฀by฀ external฀common฀threats.฀Historically,฀the฀limited฀examples฀of฀such฀cohesion฀ were฀further฀restricted฀because฀of฀the฀bipolar฀cleavages฀of฀the฀Cold฀War.฀ Regardless฀of฀the฀limitations฀of฀the฀Bangkok฀Declaration,฀the฀formation฀of฀the฀ Association฀was฀at฀least฀important฀for฀establishing฀a฀culture฀of฀consultation฀ —฀whether฀that฀be฀at฀a฀karaoke฀bar฀or฀at฀a฀golf฀course.4 ฀ While฀some฀analysts฀have฀somewhat฀cynically฀interpreted฀the฀ASEAN฀ Way฀to฀mean฀little฀more฀than฀simply฀“leave฀us฀alone”,5 ฀the฀reality฀is฀somewhat฀ more฀complex.฀Thus,฀the฀ASEAN฀Way฀does฀not฀mean฀that฀the฀ASEAN฀states฀ are฀apathetic฀towards฀one฀another,฀or฀that฀they฀are฀never฀involved฀in฀the฀ internal฀affairs฀of฀another฀member,฀but฀points฀rather฀to฀(i)฀the฀avoidance฀of฀ public฀criticism;฀and฀(ii)฀the฀provision฀of฀support฀“if฀an฀elite฀is฀threatened฀ by฀internal฀rebellion”.6 ฀Consequently,฀the฀idea฀of฀helping฀neighbouring฀ governments฀and฀“acting฀as฀a฀mutual฀support฀group฀…฀is฀very฀much฀the฀ essence฀of฀ASEAN”7 ฀and,฀as฀Alan฀Collins฀adds,฀such฀normative฀rules฀have฀the฀ practical฀effect฀that฀security฀is฀considered฀to฀be฀very฀much฀synonymous฀with฀ domestic฀stability.8 ฀In฀line฀with฀these฀principles,฀any฀cooperation฀between฀ member฀states฀was฀to฀be,฀at฀all฀times,฀mutually฀beneficial฀and฀of฀mutual฀ interest,฀with฀an฀absolute฀assertion฀of฀sovereignty฀as฀well฀as฀an฀unqualified฀ right฀of฀veto.฀This฀socio-cultural฀aspect฀of฀ASEAN’s฀normative฀behaviour฀is฀ understood฀as฀the฀process฀of฀consensually฀based฀decision฀making.฀In฀order฀ to฀adhere฀to฀this,฀the฀ASEAN฀states฀have฀also฀“traditionally”฀had฀an฀aversion฀ to฀any฀form฀of฀integration฀between฀national฀governments฀—฀also฀viewed฀as฀ a฀contravention฀of฀non-interference฀—฀as฀this฀would฀have฀demanded฀the฀ transfer฀of฀at฀least฀some฀degree฀of฀national฀sovereignty฀to฀the฀supranational฀ 05฀AseanMyanC.indd฀฀฀108 11/20/09฀฀฀1:54:54฀PM Historical and Contemporary Implications of Myanmar’s ASEAN...