ASEAN Beyond 40.

The vitality of ASEAN derives from its core. Until the mid 1990s, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand provided the dynamism of ASEAN and their national leaders the regional leadership so necessary for the Association's existence. Entering its fifth decade, the Association seems posited at a 'mid-life crisis'. The ASEAN Charter has proposed bold ideas in community-building. Yet the 'loss' of a strong leadership impetus has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the extent to which ASEAN may reduce the gap between the richer and poorer nations of Southeast Asia. The extant two-tiered nature of ASEAN is problematic to its cohesion as each with its defining set of characteristics and views of regionalism. Can the more structured approach make up the leadership deficit and enable ASEAN to reconcile the division in its quest for regional unity? The prolonged Myanmar embarrassment seems to suggest an unconfident 'yes' at best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]