Michael Plummer leads this issue of East-West Dialogue with a call for ambitious new initiatives leading to a U.S.-ASEAN economic space and a U.S.-ASEAN partnership fund to deepen civic and cultural ties. Plummer is joined by other expert commentators who agree the relationship is vital and offer further suggestions, confirming that gains from a deeper partnership are mutual and that the region is receptive to U.S. initiatives.

Commentaries:

ASEAN-U.S. Cooperation in Building the ASEAN Economic Community
Scot A. Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia and Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs
 

The American-ASEAN Relationship
Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore and former Ambassador to the United Nations from Singapore
 

Revitalizing ASEAN Competitiveness
Chalongphob Sussangkarn, Minister of Finance of Thailand (2007) and President, Thailand Development Research Institute (1996-2007)

East-West Dialogue, a project of the East-West Center, fosters discussion and debate of key issues in Asia-U.S. economic relations. The Dialogue seeks to develop and promote innovative policy, business, and civic initiatives to enhance this critical partnership.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Center.