Can ASEAN Be Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is turning 50 this year, but the 10-member group is still taking baby steps toward integration. As usual, unity will be a rhetorical theme this weekend as Southeast Asian leaders gather in Manila for the first of two ASEAN summits this year. But as the region finds itself thrust more regularly into the international spotlight, the bloc's ability to meet regional challenges decisively as a cohesive unit will continue to face stiff headwinds. On the most paramount issues of the day, ASEAN member states appear to have little choice but to go their separate ways....