BALANCING GUNS AND BUTTER
ASEAN countries have consistently complained that Washington’s attention to Southeast Asia has been too security-focused and militaristic at the expense of the region’s economic needs. Few Southeast Asia experts would disagree with the belief that U.S. policy in the region has too often been driven by conflicts. Even Campbell recently acknowledged that “it will be extremely important going forward, particularly in Southeast Asia, to underscore that our commitment to engage extends far beyond simply important security and defense engagements to every aspect…of American diplomacy.”This includes economic issues such as business, trade, and investment.
After initially doing little in the way of trade policy, the Obama administration has made some headway in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional free trade agreement. The U.S. first announced its desire to join the TPP under the Bush administration, and it currently includes four ASEAN members (Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Vietnam) with prospects of other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines joining as well. If finalized, the TPP will be a major breakthrough, but some still doubt whether a deal will be reached soon. While Washington has made the TPP the core of its trade policy in Asia, three ASEAN countries—Cambodia, Laos, and Burma—are not eligible for accession because they are not members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. This creates an impression that the TPP is dividing ASEAN between eligible and ineligible countries. To avoid this problem, the next administration must find a way to even- tually bring the ASEAN countries into the fold of U.S. trade policy in Asia. This could be pursued through a variety of ways, including working with other TPP members to revise accession eligibility, reinvigorating the U.S.-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and creating a mechanism for building capacity for interested TPP parties, or declaring its clear intention to work towards a broader U.S.-ASEAN FTA
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