22nd Lecture - Lecture - Building Regional Architecture with Dr. Ken Jimbo

Date: Friday, 17 November 2023

Time: 14.00 - 15.30 GMT+7

Platform: Hybrid (In-person at Universitas Nasional and online on Zoom Meeting and Youtube Livestream)

Speaker: Dr. Ken Jimbo, Managing Director at International House of Japan and Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University

Moderator: Dr. Hendra Maujana Saragih, M.Si., Lecturer at Universitas Nasional

The Concept of Region and the Evolution Toward the Indo-Pacific

When you study the international political economy, the concept of the region is much more flexible and dynamic, the concept of the region is really up to our activities, to whom do you think that the boundary of ‘we-ness’ and to whom that we do have a boundary of others. We and others are in your head, that kind of we-ness can be transcended from one place to another, that is quite true for today’s concept of the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific is not a purely geographical concept. For ASEAN, Indo-Pacific is the area of interconnectivity, whenever they have a region that is interdependent, interconnected, let’s create a kind of grouping together and with that, ASEAN remains to play a central role in that dynamics.”

Strategic Importance and Challenges of the Indo-Pacific

The geopolitical and geoeconomic gravity exists in Indo-Pacific, you can find both opportunities and also the challenges. Opportunities are there because you can find the epicenter of economic growth, but at the same time, you find many political security risks everywhere in the Indo-Pacific. In order to capitalize such kind of opportunity, we also have to mitigate the tension. Many ask the central question, how to deal with China because China is rising? Some people will promote with a competitive strategy. But at the same time how to actually engage in the Chinese economic kind of influence? Those are the cooperation strategy and the role of the United States is very crucial to provide one of the fundamental formulas in dealing with deterrence and defense structure in this region.

ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and Regional Cooperation

the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific is the creation of ASEAN's narrative on the Indo-Pacific and ASEAN very sophisticatedly tried to define Indo-Pacific as not a purely geographical concept, for ASEAN, Indo-Pacific is the area of interconnectivity, and with that, ASEAN remains to play a central role in that dynamics. The US version of the Indo-Pacific, there's lots of competition, lots of strategic competition and rivalries are involved. And even in the economic domain under the Trump administration they have emphasized. ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific has its own principles which are quite important, those include openness, inclusiveness, transparency, respect of the international law, ASEAN centrality, and then the respect toward the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Those are quite a kind of ASEAN base of engagement and then how much they can really outcast those kinds of ASEAN principles and vision towards the wider region is a huge opportunity and challenges for the AOIP expansion processes.