Bridging the Oceans #27: What’s All the RAUKUS About? Southeast Asia’s Mixed Response

Originally published 24 November 2021.

The defence partnership has divided opinion and frayed some partnerships. For Southeast Asia, the stakes are high, but consensus on AUKUS remains elusive.

Veerle is joined by Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Dr Koh explains that Southeast Asian countries can largely be divided into three camps in their responses to AUKUS, with a particularly interesting analysis of Cambodia’s strategic outlook. The new partnership highlights once again some difficult questions for Southeast Asian countries regarding how to manage their own regional security, while maintaining ASEAN centrality and navigating growing tensions between the US and Beijing.

Originally published 24 November 2021.

The defence partnership has divided opinion and frayed some partnerships. For Southeast Asia, the stakes are high, but consensus on AUKUS remains elusive.

Veerle is joined by Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Dr Koh explains that Southeast Asian countries can largely be divided into three camps in their responses to AUKUS, with a particularly interesting analysis of Cambodia’s strategic outlook. The new partnership highlights once again some difficult questions for Southeast Asian countries regarding how to manage their own regional security, while maintaining ASEAN centrality and navigating growing tensions between the US and Beijing.