ASEAN in Australia’s Indo-Pacific Outlook

Abstract

This article aims to locate the place of ASEAN in Australia’s Indo-Pacific outlook, by dissecting Australia’s defense and foreign policy formulations, its strategic interests vis-à-vis ASEAN, and the outcomes of the AASS. It argues that Australia’s embrace of the Indo-Pacific does not undermine the value of ASEAN in Australian foreign policy. On the contrary, Australia’s interests in ASEAN’s open regionalism and economic dynamism come into sharper focus with the extension of its outlook from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific.