VZCZCXRO0996
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHBD #0088/01 0710514
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110514Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4127
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ASEAN BX
SUBJECT: BRUNEIAN VIEWS OF ASEAN'S FUTURE 
 
REF:  07 Singapore 2085 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) Brunei's First and Second Ministers for Foreign 
Affairs and Trade have outlined a broad vision for ASEAN 
emphasizing the creation of a regional identity via actions 
that directly address the day-to-day problems of the 
population in member states.  They appear to see ASEAN 
integration as a process best driven through the "soft 
power" of the "Socio-Cultural Community" created by the new 
ASEAN Charter, rather than the "hard power" of the 
"Political-Security" or "Economic" communities that the 
Charter also establishes.  Their views may be motivated in 
part by recognition that ASEAN has not proven very adept at 
solving thorny political or economic problems through the 
application of "hard power," leaving "soft power" as the 
only currently viable option for building a regional 
identity among ASEAN's populace.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Discussion in Singapore 
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¶2.  (U) The Brunei Economic Development board sponsored the 
initial "Brunei Forum" in Singapore from February 19-20. 
The Forum was designed primarily to market Brunei to 
potential Singaporean investors and trading partners, and 
so focused primarily on economic issues.  In addition, 
however, it provided a venue for the First and Second 
Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prince Mohamed 
Bolkiah and Pehin Lim Jock Seng, to discuss their thinking 
on ASEAN's future priorities now that the organization is 
entering a new phase of its existence with the signing of 
the ASEAN Charter. 
 
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The Search for Common Ground 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) In his delivery of the inaugural "Southeast Asian 
Lecture" which opened the Forum, Prince Mohamed stressed 
the need for ASEAN to undertake "real action" that was 
relevant to the ordinary lives of people in its member 
states.  He explained that he was not looking for the 
issuance of more "Roadmaps," "Development Plans," or 
"Blueprints" that ASEAN produced so prolifically.  Instead, 
and without citing any specifics, he called for action that 
"helps ordinary people directly with their day-to-day 
problems" and could help build a "real" sense of an ASEAN 
community. 
 
¶4.  (U) Prince Mohamed warned that it was not enough to 
hope for this sense of community to develop naturally out 
of members' implementation of the ASEAN Charter.  Instead, 
ASEAN's ten members states, representing "at least half a 
dozen different systems of government" and people of many 
faiths, needed to identify a "common ground" of issues that 
addressed the practical concerns of the region's 
population.  That, he believed, was the only way to produce 
"the kind of community that all 500 million of our people 
understand and believe in," and so provide a vision for 
ASEAN's future. 
 
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Giving ASEAN "The Human Touch" 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) Pehin Lim picked up on this theme and went slightly 
beyond Prince Mohamed's generalities while participating in 
a subsequent panel on "Brunei in ASEAN."  Recalling the 
ASEAN-led "cocktail party" diplomacy of the late 1980's 
aimed at finding a political settlement in Cambodia, Lim 
said that for him this had been te glue that gave ASEAN a 
"sense of purpose" and helped it to gel into an effective 
organization.  Member states were now asking themselves 
what would perform a similar function today.  Signing the 
ASEAN Charter, he believed, was a necessary step but only 
the start of the process of answering this question.  In 
the short term, it would also be desirable for the ASEAN 
Secretary General to become a leader who articulated and 
 
SIPDIS 
implemented a region-wide vision, and move beyond the 
current situation in which he was "only a secretary, not a 
general."  To that end, Pehin Lim raised the idea of a one 
dollar per passenger ASEAN-wide airport departure tax to 
provide an independent funding source for Secretariat 
programs. 
 
¶6.  (U) Lim argued that in the longer term ASEAN should 
 
BANDAR SER 00000088  002 OF 002 
 
 
heed Prince Mohamed's call to build a sense of regional 
community from the bottom up by pursuing programs that 
touched people's lives on a daily basis.  As an example, he 
proposed developing a region-wide common curriculum for 
ASEAN studies to give the younger generation a sense of 
shared Southeast Asian history.  Other ideas might be the 
creation of an ASEAN University, or region-wide media 
outlets; responding to a suggestion from the audience, he 
added environmental protection campaigns to his list.  The 
common theme, he stressed, was that ASEAN needed "the human 
touch."  Asked by the Ambassador (who was in Singapore to 
meet U.S. companies at the Singapore Air Show, but also 
attended sessions of the Brunei Forum) to suggest a bumper- 
sticker slogan for ASEAN that would define its vision and 
rally its young people to such new regional institutions, 
Lim offered "Toward a Peaceful, Prosperous, and Caring 
Southeast Asian Community." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
COMMENT: Is Soft Power ASEAN's Only Real Alternative? 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Although Pehin Lim's slogan encompasses the first 
two "Community Councils" set up under Article 9 of the new 
ASEAN Charter (reftel) -- "Political-Security" and 
"Economic" -- both he and Prince Mohamed appeared most 
interested in activities that would fall under the third 
institutional leg, the "Socio-Cultural Community Council." 
At first glance it seems puzzling that this would be the 
stance adopted by the representatives of ASEAN's only 
absolute monarchy, whose jobs do not depend on meeting 
popular expectations or winning elections.  Upon 
reflection, it may simply be that they chose to emphasize 
the "soft power" of the "Socio-Cultural Community" because 
they recognize ASEAN has not proven very adept at applying 
the "hard power" necessary to solve thorny political or 
economic issues such as the political conflict in Burma or 
the rapid creation of a true internal market.  This "soft 
power" approach will have its own challenges (it is 
difficult, for example, to picture Indonesia, Singapore, 
Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei agreeing on a common 
history text covering the 1960's Konfrontasi), but it may 
be the path of least resistance for those who would strive 
to build a true regional identity among ASEAN's populace. 
END COMMENT. 
 
SKODON