INTRODUCTION

This chapter sets out the framework in examining ASEAN's mechanisms in managing conflicts and relates its experience in the broader study of regionalism and regional security. The first part begins with a brief discussion of regional organizations and their role in managing regional security. This section highlights the experiences of regional organizations, particularly in the developing world in responding to regional crises. It then proceeds to argue that in spite of its chequered history, regional organizations play a significant role in managing and resolving regional conflicts, particularly if one looks at their specific experiences.

The second part of this chapter identifies the kinds of mechanisms that regional organizations develop and deploy in responding to conflicts. In exploring what these mechanisms are, regional security approaches are also examined to establish their linkages with the kind of mechanisms that regional organizations generate. In drawing the linkages between these two elements, the study demonstrates that one informs the other – that is, security approaches influence the nature of mechanisms regional organizations develop.

The third part then proceeds to locate these mechanisms of conflict management within the constructivist school of international relations theory in order to analyse why distinct mechanisms are constructed. Through the prism of social constructivism, this section examines how mechanisms of conflict management have evolved and identifies the kinds of influences that would have informed the choice of certain types of mechanisms that would be applied under given circumstances. A key question that is being asked here is whether norms and identity matter.

The purpose of adopting a three-step approach in this first chapter is to present ASEAN as a regional organization that has actively been engaged in managing the security of Southeast Asia. As the other chapters of this book will show, ASEAN has dealt with regional conflicts in a rather distinctive manner, characterized by the observance of informal mechanisms in managing inter-state disputes.