Pre- Model ASEAN Weekend Updates and FAQs

A lot of questions have been asked and many clarifications have been made over the past week. This post summarizes a lot of the major points I need to reiterate to everyone before Model ASEAN begins on Monday. Moreover, I reveal exactly how I’ll be grading your resolutions at the end and what the basis of your failure or success as a class will be.

I’ll begin by saying a few things to each role.

FOR THE ASEAN MEMBERS (also called the ASEAN 10)

• Never forget that you are at the center of the forum. Only you have speaking rights. Only you have voting rights. Only you can chair an official caucus. This forum exists to address the needs of the ASEAN member countries first and foremost.
• Your objective is to come up with three major declarations for each of the three major issues. (Read on later to see what happened to resolutions.) Here is an example of a declaration relating to resource management – The ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks. It follows the standard UN format for resolutions.
• In relating with dialogue partners (including China, Japan, SoKor), always remember that they are there to assist ASEAN. China, Japan, and South Korea specifically play a larger role due to their regional proximity.
• Always remember that the ASEAN is founded on two principles: non-interference and consensus-building. Policies and resolutions that interfere in the affairs of individual states and was arrived at without consulting the ASEAN members should have zero chance of passing into a declaration (read on).

FOR CHINA, JAPAN, AND SOUTH KOREA (also called the Plus 3)

• You are considered the plus three because of your geographic proximity to ASEAN. Due to this proximity, you share closer economic and political ties to Southeast Asia in comparison to other dialogue partners such as the United States and the European Union.
• As good partners to ASEAN, you abide by their principles and purposes. You too believe in non-interference and consensus-building. Your involvement in Southeast Asia revolves primarily around trade; you’re there to help the Southeast Asian countries develop.
• In terms of political interference, you know that ASEAN will never support you in waging war or inciting conflict. Nonetheless, ASEAN can serve as an excellent partner in maintaining peace throughout the region by promoting dialogue and diplomacy.
• You are guests in the ASEAN forum. You do not have the same rights, responsibilities, and privileges accorded to the ten ASEAN member states. Nonetheless, you have one advantage over the other dialogue partners: you can be given a privilege speech anytime by the ASEAN Chairman. This will just have to be programmed in, most probably during the formal debates.
• While you don’t have voting rights, you can influence the ASEAN countries in such a way that they will file a resolution or sign a declaration that serves your interests.

FOR THE DIALOGUE PARTNERS

• Your primary goal is to develop closer ties with the ASEAN countries in order pursue your national interest. Hence, the major involvement of most dialogue partners will be through trade. (This is the default economic goal for many dialogue partners.)
• At the onset of the forum, you don’t have speaking rights. Nonetheless, you can be given the right to speak by an ASEAN country who will host you in the forum. (Consult the protocol guide on how to do this.)
• While you don’t have voting rights, you can influence the ASEAN countries in such a way that they will file a resolution or sign a declaration that serves your interests.
• Some dialogue partners are in conflicts with other countries. In a lot of these cases, they’ll need either the ASEAN or a specific Southeast Asian countries to help mediate and help resolve the conflict. For example, Filipino diplomats have been so valuable in the peace talks between North and South Korea. We were counted on as an objective, uninvolved third party.

FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• You behave very similarly to the dialogue partners (see above), except you don’t have speaking rights at all.
• While you don’t have voting rights, you can influence the ASEAN countries in such a way that they will file a resolution or sign a declaration that serves your interests.
• While you don’t have speaking rights, you can influence an ASEAN country or a dialogue partner to say something on your behalf. For example, Freedom House can provide data to America and convince him to speak about corruption and democracy in Southeast Asia.
• Your influence comes in most strongly during the caucuses. You will be the primary source of facts and resources which the ASEAN members will need when writing their resolutions and declarations.
• It is expected that in preambalatory clauses, the ASEAN says something like “Recognizing that X number of children are malnourished according to data published by UNICEF…”
• For the development banks, only entertain funding requests from the ASEAN members. This is not a UN forum.

FOR THE ASEAN SECRETARIAT (Sec-Gen, Deputy, Chairman)

• I am putting my complete trust in you guys. Know the rules (as best you can) but feel free to improvise since you know your class best. The line we never cross is to violate the spirit of non-interference and consensus espoused in the ASEAN Charter.
• Sec-Gen, I expect you to retain order and protocol at all times especially when we are in plenary (any session when everyone is just in one room and not moving around). Moreover, you are the chief negotiator and diplomat between the ASEAN and its various dialogue partners.
• Deputy, I expect you to be meticulous and detailed when it comes to recording attendance, marking working papers, and numbering draft resolutions. While I did not elaborate on the last two items, I believe the objective is clear. I will leave you to develop your own system. Moreover, you are also the chief coordinator between the ASEAN, its different caucuses, and the international organizations. You are to make sure that everyone belongs in a caucus.
• Chairman, I expect you to be able to bring the ASEAN members together and keep them focused on your priorities. (You’ll talk about this in the first day.) You will work together with the Sec-Gen to ensure that the objectives of the ASEAN are being met by the caucuses, the dialogue partners, and the plus three. You can also give privilege speech rights to China, Japan, and South Korea as you see fit. You may also appoint a Deputy Chairman to help you out.

WHAT MY ROLE WILL BE

• I’ll remain in the background most of the time (like the Middle East Summit). The less I interfere, the better your class is doing.
• Nonetheless, I’ll keep myself available as a resource person in case there is a confusion over rules, or clarifications need to be made on how to write resolutions. I can help you write and phrase your documents well.
• In the event the activity gets out of hand, I reserve the right to suspend the activity. This will penalize the class however, with a -10 in their quizzes for each time I suspend it.
• On the last day, I will listen to your three declarations, grade the class, and provide my feedback.

HOW YOU WILL BE GRADED

• You may have noticed that I’ve introduced the term declaration up above. I have decided to introduce this term to simulate ASEAN even more closely and distinguish between various kinds of resolutions.
• A declaration is written the exact same way as a resolution. The key difference is that it passes with all ten (10) votes and is signed by the 10 ASEAN members. There will still be voting, but it is just ceremonial. Everyone should vote yes.
• However, there are even more types now. Take a look at the table below:

That’s it for today’s update. If you have more questions, ask them now and I’ll see if I can write a part two of this.

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