ASEAN Must Shape Regional Future Through Greater Agency, Collective Action - ISIS Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (NNN) -- ASEAN and countries across the Asia-Pacific must move beyond merely adapting to an increasingly fragmented global order and instead actively shape regional outcomes through stronger agency, resilience and collective action, said Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia executive chairman Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah.

Delivering his welcoming remarks at the opening of the first plenary session of the 39th Asia-Pacific Roundtable (APR) on Wednesday, Mohd Faiz said the region’s challenge was no longer simply balancing principles with pragmatism, but preserving and exercising its own agency amid mounting geopolitical uncertainty.  

He said agency should not be measured by how states react to external pressures, but by their ability to shape outcomes through deliberate choices, collective action and strategic engagement.

“For ASEAN and the wider region, this begins with strengthening internal capacities and resilience at both the national and regional levels, ensuring the consistent delivery of public goods regardless of global shocks or geopolitical uncertainty,” he said.  

Mohd Faiz said resilience would enable countries to engage from a position of strength and ultimately help define, rather than simply adapt to, an evolving international order.

He noted that while agency is often associated with major powers, for many countries in the region it is a necessity, reflected in their ability to preserve strategic autonomy, expand policy options and act purposefully despite competing pressures.

“States are not merely passive subjects of history; they are also its authors,” he said, adding that countries must take ownership of charting their own futures.  

The 39th APR, organised by ISIS Malaysia, is being held from June 30 to July 2 under the theme “Accelerating Agency and Action”.

The event commenced on June 30 with a welcoming dinner attended by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, while the roundtable’s plenary discussions officially began today.

According to ISIS Malaysia, this year’s conference marks a shift from previous discussions centred on navigating geopolitical uncertainty towards strengthening regional resilience and collective action, as the global rules-based order faces growing fragmentation and intensifying strategic competition.

The conference agenda is anchored on four strategic fault lines -- the China-India axis, ASEAN’s resilience amid intensifying major-power rivalry, renewed nuclear security concerns, and the geopolitics of critical minerals and supply chains.

Mohd Faiz said discussions throughout the roundtable would examine how agency could be translated into meaningful action, including through debates on the evolving roles of China and India, ASEAN’s future institutional relevance, the return of nuclear considerations in strategic thinking, and the increasing importance of critical minerals, economic resilience and secure supply chains.  

He stressed that the APR was not intended to be an echo chamber or an academic exercise detached from reality, but rather a platform where participants could openly question prevailing assumptions and generate ideas that could eventually shape future policy.

“Track 2 diplomacy has value precisely because it occupies a space that official diplomacy often cannot. We understand official positions, but we are not constrained by them. We ask difficult questions in order to get inconvenient answers,” he said.  

The conference also features a series of high-profile fireside chats, including one with Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Danielle Heinecke on building middle-power agency.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Thursday, the final day of the conference, followed by a fireside chat.  

– BERNAMA