Abstract
Building Community, Charter, Connectivity and Centrality – the 4Cs – is one of the most prominent goals for which ASEAN elites have continuously pledged for years. This article claims that the 4Cs are a reflection of structural concerns shared by individual ASEAN members. Specifically, the main source of the ASEAN’s current practices is its members’ similar internal conditions that exposed elites to a substantial level of concerns over dual marginalization in relation to the leading countries of global governance. ASEAN elites have agreed to pursue the 4Cs, despite the 4Cs’ incompatibility with ASEAN members’ domestic practices as well as some conventional ASEAN ways of doing business, because they are expected to reduce elites’ dual concerns over becoming left-out or pushed-over within the current global governance. This explains selectivity and word–action gaps frequently observed in the ASEAN process. As elites’ concerns over being left-out and pushed-over have remained quite substantial, it is unlikely that any practices would take place if they are expected to raise either side of the concerns. Actual practices would follow elites’ words only when they are expected to mitigate fear of dual marginalization in a balanced way. To support this argument, this paper maps out the distribution of dual concerns that elites in each member state have faced and links the 4Cs’ utility to address the concerns.
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