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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
From its inception, ASEAN can be viewed as a governance network which, according to Sørensen and Torfing, can be characterized as:
• A relatively stable horizontal articulation of interdependent, but operationally autonomous actors;
• An organization with actors who interact through negotiations;
• An organization whose negotiations take place within a regulative, normative, cognitive, and imaginary framework;
• An organization that, to a certain extent, is self-regulating; and
• An organization which contributes to the production of public purpose within or across particular policy areas.
Moreover, Hadi Soesastro's description of ASEAN “as a loose form of inter-governmental cooperation that accords highest priority to the preservation of national sovereignty” allows us to view ASEAN from a network perspective.
One reason networks are formed is to “enhance horizontal coordination”, and they are partly held together “by the anticipated gains from resource pooling and joint action and partly by the development of mutual trust that helps to overcome collective action problems”. Take for instance the reasons given by Thanat Khoman for the founding of ASEAN:
The most important of them was the fact that, with the withdrawal of the colonial powers, there would have been a power vacuum which could have attracted outsiders to step in for political gains. As the colonial masters had discouraged any form of intra-regional contact, the idea of neighbours working together in a joint effort was thus to be encouraged.
Secondly, as many of us knew from experience, especially with the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), cooperation among disparate members located in distant lands could be ineffective. We had therefore to strive to build cooperation among those who lived close to one another and shared common interests.
Thirdly, the need to join forces became imperative for the Southeast Asian countries in order to be heard and to be effective. This was the truth that we sadly had to learn. The motivation for our efforts to band together was thus to strengthen our position and protect ourselves against Big Power rivalry.[…]
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