ASEAN should forge ahead with integration despite territorial disputes
When Indonesia took the chairmanship of ASEAN in January, it could not have asked for a more challenging task than to deal with the military clashes which have erupted between Thailand and Cambodia over a border dispute. Jakarta had some grand designs when it asked Brunei to swap places for the right to chair the regional grouping as Indonesia's turn was not due until 2013. But as ASEAN under Indonesia's chairmanship forges ahead with the creation of a Southeast Asian Community by 2015, the clashes on the Thai-Cambodian border are a reminder of the many territorial disputes among its ten members that for much of its 44-year history have been swept under the carpet. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)
When Indonesia took the chairmanship of ASEAN in January, it could not have asked for a more challenging task than to deal with the military clashes which have erupted between Thailand and Cambodia over a border dispute. Jakarta had some grand designs when it asked Brunei to swap places for the right to chair the regional grouping as Indonesia's turn was not due until 2013. But as ASEAN under Indonesia's chairmanship forges ahead with the creation of a Southeast Asian Community by 2015, the clashes on the Thai-Cambodian border are a reminder of the many territorial disputes among its ten members that for much of its 44-year history have been swept under the carpet. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)
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