ASEAN On Life Support

<h4>ASEAN On Life Support<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has reliably gathered that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations&comma; ASEAN&comma; &&num;8220&semi;has lost its much-touted centrality and is frankly on life support as an autonomous multilateral platform&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These are the recent views of Michael Vatikiotis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The respected public affairs analyst noted that the plans of the President of the United States of America&comma; Joe Biden to skip the summit of the group&&num;8217&semi;s leaders that begins on Sept&period; 5&comma; is a pointer to how disunited the group has become&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to him&comma; Biden&&num;8217&semi;s plan to boycott the summit is because the bloc is deeply divided due to clashing interests and concerns about China&comma; democracy&comma; security and other issues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The author of &&num;8220&semi;Blood and Silk&colon; Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia&&num;8221&semi; argues that ASEAN must find ways to revive effective multilateral cooperation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Otherwise&comma; he warns&comma; there is little chance that the bloc can act to preserve peace in the region&comma; its fundamental mission&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;There is an urgent need for more contact and understanding in a region vastly more challenged than it was even five years ago&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he writes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;