Will Brunei’s time at the helm of ASEAN be defined by the Myanmar crisis?

As this year’s ASEAN chair, Brunei Darussalam finds itself operating in an increasingly precarious and unpredictable region.

While Southeast Asia begins to heal from the Covid-19 pandemic that brought the region to a standstill for most of last year, Brunei has the formidable task of guiding it towards a post-recovery era. With the theme of ‘We Care. We Prepare. We Prosper’, Brunei has largely concentrated its chairmanship on strengthening the regional healthcare infrastructure in a post-pandemic landscape.

However, early this year, the ASEAN chair was forced to focus on an entirely unexpected challenge—the military coup and accompanying violence that erupted in Myanmar.

The full article was originally published on Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) here: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/will-bruneis-time-at-the-helm-of-asean-be-defined-by-the-myanmar-crisis/