A Challenge for ASEAN

Tension between Thailand and Cambodia that escalated into armed clashes in 2011 did more than threaten the credibility of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The fighting over their disputed border, which claimed dozens of casualties and displaced tens of thousands of villagers, exposed a little-recognized weakness in Southeast Asia: countless border disputes and other land and maritime boundary issues that linger unresolved. While regional attention has focused on China's provocations in support of expansive claims in the South China Sea, Southeast Asian governments have ignored many of their own border problems.

Although these disputes are largely dormant, and there is no indication that they will flare into violence anytime soon, the Thai-Cambodian experience demonstrated the potential danger. In 2008, the two countries signed up to develop jointly the ancient, borderline Preah Vihear temple as a symbol of their “long-lasting friendship”, only to open fire on each other over the matter a few months later. Many of the latent disputes carry similar historical baggage and are susceptible to the kind of nationalist manipulation employed by conservative Thai political factions to whip up sentiments against Cambodia. Moreover, as with Preah Vihear, the core of almost all the disputes is sovereignty, which is emotionally charged and sensitive.

The resort to arms over a long-standing territorial disagreement is further evidence that borders, far from becoming redundant as globalization advances and consolidates, are being guarded more zealously than ever. It is also a stark warning that ASEAN's historical stand of deliberately shelving territorial disputes in the interests of regional cohesion and harmony is no longer valid. Years of institutionalized interaction and enmeshment in a multilayered and multitracked web of cooperation failed to produce “restraining effects” on members tempted to use force to settle differences, long an article of ASEAN faith. While a case can be made for ASEAN to review its entire approach to conflict resolution, the association also needs to change its attitude to boundary disputes and border issues that may disturb the peace in the first place.