Indonesia's Non-State Actors in ASEAN: a New Regionalism Agenda for Southeast Asia‪?‬

Introduction Since its inception in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has experienced both major achievements and setbacks. Its agenda of regional integration has been expanded to embrace wider issues, ranging from security to economic cooperation. In October 2003, in Bali, for example, ASEAN member countries agreed to establish an ASEAN Community (AC) by 2020, which will reinforce three elements of cooperation, namely political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, and socio-cultural cooperation, included in the First Bali Concord in 1976. (1) Despite this, the majority of Indonesian non-state actors remain somewhat indifferent towards the Association. In recent years, ASEAN's failure to address the economic crisis effectively has been a central criticism of the Association. (2) One key aspect that will be addressed in this paper is ASEAN's exclusive nature, which limits the interaction between the Association and the citizens of its member states. This issue has become a critical one because of the expanding scope of ASEAN cooperation in recent years. In the area of economic cooperation, for example, the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) has been viewed sceptically by a large section of ASEAN member states' citizens. In Indonesia, in particular, various non-state actors--small and medium businesses, the academic community, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society organizations (CSOs)--are generally of the opinion that this regional trade liberalization measure will only benefit a small section of the Indonesian community.