Description: This essay briefly traces the contours and dynamics of ASEAN from its early years to its emergence as Southeast Asia’s premier regional organization after the Cold War. However, ASEAN has faced new headwinds in the 2010s as a result of China’s inexorable rise and has become more divided. Intraregional tension has revolved around two main issues: China’s efforts to build and weaponize artificial islands in the South China Sea, and its diversion of water resources by building upriver dams in the Mekong region. Confronted with these challenges, ASEAN has no choice but to regroup and reassert a unified position in order to maintain regional autonomy and avoid major-power rivalry and domination in its neighborhood