Malaysia – a truly intellectual storm for ASEAN

Now that some time has passed, the moment for evaluation attempts has come: what did Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN chairmanship actually deliver for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations?

However, to the credit of Malaysia and its leadership, it must be said that the chair did not simply sit on its hands. This is significant given that not every single ASEAN member when taking the helm has faced such serious challenges; it required not just theoretical but practical use of all its diplomatic skill to prevent at least the internationalisation of the conflict, let alone a major escalation. Despite having no real leverage on the belligerents, Kuala Lumpur repeatedly reached out to them, making concerted efforts to appeal to their sense of responsibility and prudence and striving to steer the conflict towards dialogue. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rightly noted that, in his view, sustained diplomatic engagement was crucial in preventing more serious incidents during critical moments.

Although it is difficult to apply the adjective “final” to the current stage of resolving the conflict, the fact is that the ASEAN “edifice” has so far withstood this test, and Malaysia proved itself a responsible chair, ready to react swiftly to events and maintain diplomatic pressure in a difficult situation.

Since 2025, anyone following ASEAN affairs has had to get used to a new wording: “the 11 ASEAN states.” This sounds novel because everyone had become so accustomed to ASEAN embracing 10 countries, with no apparent desire to expand, that this state of affairs seemed self-evident. But – it finally happened! East........

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