ASEAN is almost officially dead. ASEAN should join BRICS enbloc.

 

For the past 20 years ASEAN has slowly but quite certainly faded out of watever it was before.  What exactly does ASEAN do anymore? Indonesia has grown up since 1998 and is still growing. The Indonesians feel that they are big enough to make their own way in handling their foreign and regional affairs. Indonesia is the sole South East Asian member of the G20 nations. To be just an ordinary member of ASEAN may be seen as beneath them.

The US is still exerting a lot of influence on Thailand and the Philippines and playing up the anti-China rhetoric. There are newer American puppets now in ASEAN. 

The recent seizure of over RM3.4 billion in money laundered assets in Singapore at the behest of China not only shows China's clout in Singapore but also casts doubts on Singapore's "banking safe haven" status.  Hot money is not safe in Singapore anymore.

In its 56 years of existence AEAN never evolved to establish regional rules and agreements to handle things like this - money laundering, hot money, human trafficking. There has been some cooperation in tariffs but new non-tariff barriers have also come up to protect domestic automotive industries (as an example).

The BRICS are concluding their main summit in South Africa. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have now expanded their membership to include Argentina, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia. That is a lot of people and also huge economic clout. About 40% of the world's population and also about 40% of the world's GDP (plus minus ok). 

I think ASEAN should join the BRICS enbloc. If not enbloc then join as individual countries. ASEAN has outlived its usefulness. BRICS is the rising star on the horizon. There is security in numbers and the eclipse of western dominance will have its whirlpools and boobytraps. 

The next big immediate threat on our horizon is that World Economic Forum inspired carbon tax and their newly repackaged old devil called ESG.  All these are designed to keep us down and keep them up. More on this later.

But we need new friends, powerful friends who are real friends. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT