The Status of ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration

Sneha Raghavan and Guy Ben-Ari over at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC have a new piece out about ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration (ADIC).

The authors argue that despite the adoption of Malaysia’s concept paper in May this year on the subject and the goal of slashing defense imports by ASEAN members, ADIC faces major challenges. These include lingering distrust among Southeast Asian states, concerns regarding full reciprocity, and disparities in defense industrial capabilities. Overcoming these obstacles will require ASEAN states to both grow their defense industrial bases and boost trade amongst themselves, which in turn will require more investments, incentives and regional thinking. This is no small task.

At the same time, ADIC is yet another indication that ASEAN is moving toward some sense of a greater regional identity. This is no small achievement for a region that used to be termed “the Balkans of Asia” just a few decades ago and still remains incredibly diverse today. As with many other things in ASEAN, the ADIC is likely to progress in a way that frustrates its critics but defies its skeptics.