Southgate, Laura (2025). Explaining ASEAN institutional balancing success and failure. Asian Security ,
Abstract
ASEAN members have a mixed record of success at balancing external threats. During the Cold War, member states cooperated to contain Vietnamese aggression after its occupation of Cambodia. This success has not extended to the South China Sea, where ASEAN claimant states have failed to generate a united response to China’s violation of maritime sovereignty. What explains ASEAN member state’s mixed record of success at balancing external threats? This article outlines the factors that impact state ability to mobilize ASEAN to balance against a common threat. Through an examination of state capabilities, state allies, and institutional constraints, the paper demonstrates the important role of the target state for institutional balancing. In doing so, it presents an original contribution to both neorealist and institutional realist theory.
Publication DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2025.2527885 |
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Divisions: | College of Business and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences & Humanities > Politics, History and International Relations Aston University (General) |
Additional Information: | Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Publication ISSN: | 1479-9855 |
Last Modified: | 11 Jul 2025 07:15 |
Date Deposited: | 08 Jul 2025 09:26 |
Full Text Link: | |
Related URLs: |
https://www.tan ... 55.2025.2527885
(Publisher URL) |
PURE Output Type: | Article |
Published Date: | 2025-07-06 |
Published Online Date: | 2025-07-06 |
Accepted Date: | 2025-06-26 |
Authors: |
Southgate, Laura
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