October 8, 2024 12:17 PM

Myanmar and South China Sea to test ASEAN relevance in upcoming summit

Southeast Asian leaders will meet in Laos this week as Myanmar's civil war and mounting tensions in the South China Sea risk corroding the ASEAN grouping's central role in the region. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has, since it was founded in 1967, created complex political structures and processes that have largely enabled peaceful cooperation within the region of over 685 million people. But its inability to address difficult issues in a timely way may reflect ...