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A Critique Paper On The Middle Powers in Indo Pacific: The Bilateral-Multilateral Nexus in Korea-ASEAN-Australia Partnership

The webinar discussed the relationship between South Korea and Australia as middle powers in the Indo-Pacific region, and the role of ASEAN. It analyzed the concept of middle powers and traced their evolution over three waves. South Korea and Australia both have bilateral ties with ASEAN and maintain formal relationships with the US and China. While they have some similarities as middle powers, they also have differences in their economic and political ties. The webinar argued that ASEAN can help bring South Korea and Australia closer through multilateral cooperation and by serving as a bridge between the two middle powers.

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Jullianne Erin
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86 views4 pages

A Critique Paper On The Middle Powers in Indo Pacific: The Bilateral-Multilateral Nexus in Korea-ASEAN-Australia Partnership

The webinar discussed the relationship between South Korea and Australia as middle powers in the Indo-Pacific region, and the role of ASEAN. It analyzed the concept of middle powers and traced their evolution over three waves. South Korea and Australia both have bilateral ties with ASEAN and maintain formal relationships with the US and China. While they have some similarities as middle powers, they also have differences in their economic and political ties. The webinar argued that ASEAN can help bring South Korea and Australia closer through multilateral cooperation and by serving as a bridge between the two middle powers.

Uploaded by

Jullianne Erin
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BARAIRO, JULLIANNE ERIN G.

Political Economy
PSC32 Sir Jumel Estrañero

“Middle Powers in Indo Pacific: The Bilateral-Multilateral Nexus in


Korea-ASEAN-Australia Partnership”

Introduction

The University of Melbourne hosted a webinar on September 8, 2022, via zoom,


entitled Middle Powers in Indo Pacific: The Bilateral-Multilateral Nexus in
Korea-ASEAN-Australian Partnership. The Academe invited Dr. Chiew Ping Hoo, a Senior
Strategic Studies and International Relations Lecturer from the National University of
Malaysia. The webinar focuses on analyzing the relationship between South Korea and
Australia, which is the Indo Pacific’s top middle powers, and how the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations or the ASEAN will play a significant role.

Lecture proper

Middle Power, as cited by Dr. Chiew Ping Hoo according to Giovanni Botero, is a
power in which countries are able to “stand on their own” without relying on other countries.
Middle Power is close to being great powers, according to R.G. Riddel (1948). With the
concept of Middle Power being determined, Paul Evans (2016) stated that the concept, role,
and purpose of Middle Power in present times, look different. The institutions or
organizations that the Middle Powers have established have been performing worse than
anticipated.

There are three waves of Middlepowerdom. The first wave, which is the post-1945
era involves several Western European states that are based on functional logic. For example,
Canada, which is responsible enough to advocate a sense of moral and principle-based
diplomacy with a hinge of multilateralism human rights, and Australia which has enhanced
their material and influence. The two aforementioned countries became Middle Powers who
advocated for the values that the Western audience is familiar with. The second wave, which
is the post-cold war period, involves the wave of globalization and industrialization. The
second wave further intensified the number of middle powers with their entrepreneurial and
ideational roles. The third wave which happened in the post-2008 financial crisis era, further
defined beyond the material capacity of middle powers. During the third wave, it became
evident that various middle power coalitions have been formed outside of the G20, such as
the MIKTA, and BRICS, which also involved countries such as China, South Korea, South
Africa, and Indonesia.

Australia and South Korea, which are both in the Indo-Pacific, are middle powers that
have bilateral connections with ASEAN. Both countries have a formal relationship with US
and China. Despite the two shared similarities and how they are significant middle powers,
both countries, according to Jeffrey Robertson (2002), are awkward middle powers who are
not close. Economically, they are “highly complementary” and are “problem-free”, however
in terms of domestic political exchanges, they are both irrelevant to each other. Australia is
more of traditional middle power, while South Korea is a more economic-driven middle
power. Australia is security-oriented and prioritizes trade relations over globalism and
multilateralism, while South Korea seeks to bridge and hedge between the two superpowers
(US and China).

As previously stated, both countries share a connection with ASEAN. Australia


became ASEAN’s first dialogue partner back in 1974. This was the time wherein Australia
was navigating careful relations, especially with Indonesia, and then during the 2000s with
Timor Leste. There have been several security challenges that Indonesia has been through in
terms of strategic change in the east Asia pacific and Indo Pacific regions. The Bilateral trade
between Australia and ASEAN became greater than the two-way trade between Japan and
US. ASEAN provides a lot of goods that Australia needs. Australia is investing more in its
partnership with ASEAN to the extent wherein it has become upgraded into a strategic and
comprehensive partnership, as ASEAN is often rendered to just a body of market rather than
an institution that has its strategic values. Meanwhile, South Korea established sectoral
dialogue relations back in 1989 and became a full dialogue partner by 1991. The fast
emergence of ASEAN as one of the partner regions for South Korea when it came to
financial crisis and market trade, is due to the high volume of trade that replaced China back
in 2018 and 2019.

Analysis

Jumping into the webinar without prior knowledge regarding middle powers, the
relationship between South Korea and Australia, and ASEAN proved to be extremely
confusing and difficult. It can take ages to understand the concept of what middle power is,
and people might possibly need to rewatch the recorded version of the webinar several times
in order to fully grasp the concept. Though, I agree with how middle power in some way, is
now more of an alliance filled with uncertainty and tensions. Most, if not all, countries enjoy
a serious game of power-tripping, and it can prove to hinder the development of establishing
connections with other nations.

I also agree that ASEAN can serve as a binding power and unite major powers, and
bring Australia and South Korea closer. As ASEAN is a middle-powered institution, it can
further serve as the bridging, coalition coordinating, and norm diffusing of the two middle
powers. As of the moment, there are already numerous initiative programs coming from both
Australia and South Korea. As the ASEAN and Australia’s relationship further deepens due
to the AUS4ASEAN initiatives; economic community, and social-cultural buildings,
AUS4ASEAN Political-Security, ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons
Especially Women & Children (ACTIP) Implementation Project (AIP), and support for human
rights. It is also quite the same for South Korea and ASEAN’s relationship, with the
ASEAN-ROK Summit, ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) - Korea Consultation, and
Mekong-ROK Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
Conclusion

To conclude, South Korea, Australia, and ASEAN multilateralism can prove to be


extremely beneficial. Through South Korea and Australia’s own initiatives in the ASEAN,
they can become closer than before. Instead of middle powers continuing to have discord
within, they need to strive for unity, especially with what is currently happening around the
globe. Through a sense of unity, there is a better chance of opportunities, not only between
South Korea, and Australia but also between other middle powers.
Proof of attendance:

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