The Road to Ratification and Implementation of the ASEAN Charter

This book is a product of the Expert Round-Table Discussion on the topic “The Road to Ratification and Implementation of the ASEAN Charter,” jointly organised by the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) of the Institute of SouthEast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and the Habibie Centre, on 17 July 2008 in Jakarta. The objective of the discussion was to illuminate the provisions of the ASEAN Charter and its strengths and weaknesses. Despite its evident merits, the signing of the ASEAN Charter has brought to prominence the sharp differences that have divided partisans and critics of ASEAN, as reflected by selected speakers who voiced their views on the subject. They, however, agreed that the Charter was imperfect in its current state and required clarification and further attention to detail. Even the more sceptical participants in the Round-Table discussion did not consider the Charter a complete failure but admitted that, if implemented well, it could be beneficial to the people of the ASEAN member states.