ASEAN'S STRATEGIC INTERACTIONS AND COOPERATION: A GAME THEORY ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL PARTNER RELATIONS AND PUBLIC GOODS

Abstract

This article explores how ASEAN’s political-security cooperation with core external partners—China, the United States, and Australia—shapes its strategic interaction for the provision of regional public goods. It contends that peace and security in Southeast Asia are politically negotiated public goods rather than purely cooperative outcomes. By applying the chicken game approach to the politics of public goods, the article explores how asymmetry, strategic restraint, and diversification influence ASEAN’s interaction with external actors. Through a qualitative analysis of official ASEAN documents, joint statements, and policy frameworks, the article reviews three examples of political-security cooperation within ASEAN. The evidence indicates that whilst mutual cooperation delivers the best results for regional stability, they remain fragile because different strategic preferences prevent sharing the same results. Engagement with China fuses economic and security cooperation with maritime assertiveness that limits ASEAN’s autonomy. The United States contributes to vital security public goods but at the same time brings new pressures concerning great power rivalry. Australia provides relatively more moderate cooperation, consolidating capacity among ASEAN countries that remain less influenced by geopolitics but with fewer resources. The paper shows that ASEAN, instead of aligning, is rational and responds flexibly by employing diversification in countering asymmetry and preserving centrality. ASEAN studies are enriched by this article by way of a link between game theory and public goods politics in a coherent manner, detailing the internal strategic management of regional competition alongside peace and stability in the region.