Cooperation on energy security in ASEAN – exploring the role of regional norms in fostering cooperation in Southeast Asia

Energy security in this day and age is an increasingly complex concept for policymakers to deal with. In order to sustain future economic growth while keeping in account issues of territorial disputes and environmental pollution, many scholars have anticipated a great role for ASEAN, the regional organisation in Southeast Asia, in fostering regional cooperation on energy security. The dominant perspective within the literature analyses ASEAN in practical terms of material outcomes and claims that ASEAN should follow a similar path as the European Union, focussing on functional cooperation. However, the current research concurs with a marginalised and underdeveloped perspective in the literature and claims that norms and the establishment of a regional identity are crucial in understanding cooperation on energy security in Southeast Asia. The contribution of the research is twofold. First, its analyses of ASEAN’s regional energy security policies, the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore...Show moreEnergy security in this day and age is an increasingly complex concept for policymakers to deal with. In order to sustain future economic growth while keeping in account issues of territorial disputes and environmental pollution, many scholars have anticipated a great role for ASEAN, the regional organisation in Southeast Asia, in fostering regional cooperation on energy security. The dominant perspective within the literature analyses ASEAN in practical terms of material outcomes and claims that ASEAN should follow a similar path as the European Union, focussing on functional cooperation. However, the current research concurs with a marginalised and underdeveloped perspective in the literature and claims that norms and the establishment of a regional identity are crucial in understanding cooperation on energy security in Southeast Asia. The contribution of the research is twofold. First, its analyses of ASEAN’s regional energy security policies, the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power interconnection project and nuclear energy developments finds that ASEAN’s normative approach is crucial in understanding development of and the rationale behind cooperation on energy projects in the region. Secondly, it finds that contrary to the assumption of many scholars in the existing literature on energy security in ASEAN, ASEAN’s norms are not static but undergo change through a process of norm localisation, in which external norms and practices are adopted and localised within pre-existing institutional norms and practices. The thesis concludes that norms play a crucial role in ASEAN’s approach to fostering regional cooperation on energy security, dictating both form and function of cooperation. A normative approach is therefore key in gaining a better understanding of the development of energy security cooperation amongst Southeast Asian states.Show less

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Cooperation on energy security in ASEAN – exploring the role of regional norms in fostering cooperation in Southeast Asia