ASEAN Matters: Issue 1

Abstract

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) is ASEAN’s first and longest standing institution. Over the past five decades, ASEAN has developed a full fledged institutional structure with the ASEAN Summit at the apex and various sectoral ministerial bodies, but the AMM continues to be a focal institution in the ASEAN process. The images of ASEAN at work often convey a notion of formality, with dignitaries and officials in dark suits, seated around a conference table, or making interventions that rarely veer off-script. In fact, a lot of ASEAN’s work gets done in more informal settings that are conducive to frank and substantive exchanges. These meetings, known as “retreats”, have become a preferred venue for ASEAN member countries to thrash out difficult and important issues that affect the grouping and the region.