Bills
| 3.23.22

Should the U.S. Have a Multi-Year Strategy for Engagement With Southeast Asia & ASEAN? (H.R. 1632)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 1632?

(Updated October 13, 2019)

This bill — the Southeast Asia Strategy Act — would direct the State Dept. to submit a multi-year strategy for engagement with Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to Congress. It would also be required to update the strategy for the next four years following the initial strategy’s submission.

The strategy would include: 

  • An identification of enduring U.S. interests in South East Asia and efforts to bolster ASEAN’s effectiveness as an independent and unified regional leader. 
  • An identification of 1) the future of Southeast Asian alliances, partnerships, and multilateral engagements, including efforts to expand security interoperability and economic connectivity and build networks of allies and partnerships with other U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific region and 2) partners outside ASEAN supporting U.S. interests in Southeast Asia. 
  • A list of ongoing and planned initiatives and programs to strengthen the United States’ partnerships with ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries on trade, investment, energy, and economic and political diplomacy.
  • A list of ongoing and planned initiatives and programs to strengthen the United States’ partnerships with ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries through development and capacity building, including efforts to improve the environment for private sector-led economic development, public-private partnerships, infrastructure development, development of the digital economy and technology, and other initiatives relating to education, disaster management, and public health. 
  • An assessment of ongoing and planned initiatives to directly assist Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN in developing institutional capabilities, including with respect to enforcing international law and sanctions, and initiatives to cooperate with ASEAN as an institution in these areas. 
  • An assessment of ongoing and planned efforts to promote human rights and democracy and strengthen the rule of law, civil society, and government transparency in Southeast Asian countries.
  • An assessment of ongoing and planned efforts to protect election security and personal data from cyber threats.
  • An assessment of ongoing and planned security cooperation, assistance, and training initiatives within Southeast Asian countries, including 1) on maritime security and political initiatives for protecting maritime commons and supporting international law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea; 2) to combat terrorism, human trafficking, piracy, and illegal fishing; and 3) to promote more open, reliable trade routes.
  • An assessment of ongoing and planned funding for relevant U.S. government departments and agencies on initiatives to implement the strategy.

Additionally, this bill would state that it’s U.S. policy to coordinate closely with ASEAN and its member states in the interest of promoting peace, security, and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. It would also affirm the importance of ASEAN centrality.

Argument in favor

The U.S. needs a comprehensive Southeast Asia policy to ensure that its regional interests are appropriately looked after. Identifying and tracking ongoing efforts to bolster U.S. allies in Southeast Asia as well as ASEAN is needed to craft appropriate policies and gauge their effectiveness.

Argument opposed

This bill’s overreliance on ASEAN is naive, and could dangerously de-emphasize the importance of some Southeast Asian nations in U.S. foreign policy. It’s also worth considering that U.S. policy in Southeast Asia is inextricably linked to its broader Asian strategy, so it may not make sense to craft a Southeast Asian, versus a pan-Asian, foreign policy strategy.

Impact

State Dept; Congress; U.S. foreign policy with regard to Southeast Asia; Southeast Asia; U.S. policy with regard to ASEAN; and ASEAN.

Cost of H.R. 1632

The CBO estimates that satisfying this bill’s reporting requirements would cost less than $500,000 in 2020 and over the 2019-2024 period.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) introduced this bill to require the State Dept. to develop and submit a comprehensive strategy on Southeast Asia and ASEAN to Congress. After this bill unanimously passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee in June 2019, Rep. Wagner said in a Facebook post: 

“Southeast Asian countries generate hundreds of thousands of American jobs and invest more in our economy than China and India combined. This bill will deepen U.S. engagement with our Southeast Asian partners by requiring the Administration to develop and communicate a coherent regional strategy that addresses all aspects of the partnership, from trade and humanitarian goals to diplomatic and security arrangements. Southeast Asian countries seek strong leadership from the United States as they try to maintain economic independence from China and defend their territorial claims in the South China Sea.”

When she introduced this bill in the 115th Congress, Rep. Wagner said in a press release:

“To date, the U.S. has never articulated a comprehensive strategy for the Southeast Asian region. The Southeast Asia Strategy Act does just that by developing a coherent and clearly communicated regional strategy that addresses all aspects of our critical relationship with Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Congress is working with the Administration to communicate to our friends that the U.S. has their backs as they expand trade and development, secure their borders, strengthen human rights, and defend against Chinese aggression.”

This legislation has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by voice vote with the support of eight bipartisan cosponsors, including five Republicans and three Democrats. Last Congress, it had one cosponsor, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), and didn’t receive a committee vote.


Of Note: Adam Fields, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, contends that the U.S. should craft a Southeast Asia policy with two goals: first, to ensure Southeast Asian countries can protect their autonomy, identity and sovereignty, and second, to ensure that the U.S. can compete with China for influence in the economic, ideological, cultural, and political realms. However, unlike the approach espoused in this bill, Fields argues that the proper Southeast Asia strategy isn’t about either dominating the region or balancing against China. 

Instead, Fields argues, the U.S. should help ensure Southeast Asian countries should remain strong, independent, and prosperous. Fields argues that promoting American values — specifically those of individual freedom, representative government, personal security, economic liberty, and equality — should be the U.S. goal in the region.

Fields also warns against overemphasizing ASEAN’s importance (which this bill arguably could do) at the cost of de-emphasizing individual states’ importance. He writes: 

“While the United States should participate in meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the highest level, overemphasizing the importance of ASEAN centrality and placing the burden on ASEAN to solve difficult regional issues discounts the enduring importance of the state itself. It also allows China to claim inconsequential victories when ASEAN is divided. It is true that ASEAN has created important rules and norms of behavior that have enmeshed both China and the United States in a Southeast Asian-led regional security architecture. However, while institutional rules and norms produce important compliance effects—breaking them leads to reputational costs at the very least—they are only useful when states choose to respect and follow them. Investing time and money ensuring Southeast Asian states are strong, prosperous, and independent will reap more enduring foreign policy successes than over-reliance on an important, but shaky, multilateral institution.”


Media:

Summary by Lorelei Yang

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / yorkfoto)