The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Dispute
Management – Framework, Achievements and Challenges
By Assoc. Prof. Ramses Amer
Abstract
The presentation will assess the dispute management framework of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN dispute management framework will be outlined through the analysis of
the context in which it has been developed. The presentation will identify and assess the achievements
reached by ASEAN and its member-states in the field of dispute management. The challenges that
ASEAN and its member states have and in some cases are still facing will also be discussed. Three main
dimensions will be examined: first, the core elements of the framework; second, the role played by the
Association in terms of dispute management; and, third, the possible impact of the ASEAN approach and
its role in inter-state disputes among its members. In addition, the possible relevance of the ASEAN
framework on disputes involving both member-states and non-member states, e.g. in the case of the South
China Sea, will be explored.
1
Bio
Ramses Amer – Associate Professor and PhD in Peace and Conflict Research – is Associated Fellow,
Institute for Security & Development Policy, Sweden ([email protected], [email protected]).
Major areas of research include a) security issues and conflict resolution in Southeast Asia and the wider
Pacific Asia and b) the role of the United Nations in the international system. He is the author of The
Sino-Vietnamese Approach to Managing Boundary Disputes, Maritime Briefing, Vol. 3, No. 5 (Durham:
International Boundaries Research Unit, University of Durham, 2002). He is Co-editor, with Carlyle A.
Thayer, of Vietnamese Foreign Policy in Transition (Singapore: Institute for Southeast Asian Studies;
and, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1999). He is Co-editor with N. Ganesan, of International Relations in
Southeast Asia: Between Bilateralism and Multilateralism (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies, 2010), and with Zou Keyuan, of Conflict Management and Dispute Settlement in East Asia
(Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2011). He is also Co-editor, with Ashok Swain and Joakim Öjendal, of
Globalization and Challenges to Building Peace (London, Chicago and New Delhi: Anthem Press, 2007);
of The Democratization Project: Opportunities and Challenges (London and New York: Anthem Press,
2009); and of The Security-Development Nexus: Peace, Conflict and Development (London and New
York: Anthem Press, 2012). He has also contributed to international journals and books and has written
reports on issues of Southeast Asian Affairs and on the United Nations.
2