Jörn Dosch

ASEAN's reluctant liberal turn and the thorny road to democracy promotion

Abstract New liberal spaces in several Southeast Asian countries have created a window of opportunity for non-state actors to lobby for the promotion of democracy and human rights in ASEAN. Democratically elected governments cannot ignore the voices of their constituencies and consequently promote liberal values at the regional level. This is mainly the case for Indonesia and the Philippines, and the other member states find it difficult to close their eyes to liberal agendas. Both Jakarta and Manila follow a foreign policy strategy of reforming ASEAN into an organization that actively subscribes to democratic values, as the process of negotiating the ASEAN Charter demonstrated. The charter gives evidence of the groups cautious liberal turn as it explicitly identifies the rule of law, good governance, democratic principles and constitutional government as essential elements of political order. However, it is a long way from the cautious acceptance of general democratic values to the active promotion and regional enforcements of rules based on these norms. In view of the diversity of political systems and ideologies within ASEAN, it comes as no surprise that the association as a collective actor is unable to agree on any meaningful strategy as to how to support and respond to political change. ASEANs failure to use diplomatic leverage to pressure its member Burma for political reforms is a case in point. At the same time ASEAN does not impede democracy, and future analysts might be looking back on the commitment to core democratic values in the ASEAN Charter as the pre-stage of regional-democracy promotion.

Die Chinesische Mauer – eine monumentale Metapher

Wie kein zweites Monument steht die Chinesische Mauer gleichzeitig als Symbol nationaler Grose wie auch als Metapher fur Unterdruckung, Autoritarismus und Abschottung. Die dominierende erstgenannte Sichtweise pragte und verfestigte sich seit dem spaten 18. Jahrhundert zunachst vor allem auf der Grundlage britischer Berichte, wobei die europaische Beschaftigung mit dem machtigsten je von Menschenhand geschaffenen Verteidigungswall (eigentlich mehrere Walle, wie noch zu zeigen sein wird) jedoch weit langer zuruckreicht.