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                 Obama to Host Strategically Vital ASEAN Summit

   by Smita Nordwall

   Starting Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama will host Southeast Asian
   leaders as well as the ASEAN Secretary-General for a special summit in
   Rancho Mirage, California.

   In meeting with the leaders of the 10 members of the Association of
   Southeast Asian Nations, Obama will address a group that represents a
   population of more than 620 million and a collective economy of around
   $2.4 trillion, the third largest in Asia behind those of China and
   Japan.

   Leaders of member states Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
   Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos accepted Obama's
   invitation.  The leaders of Vietnam and Myanmar, facing their own
   domestic challenges, declined, electing to send deputies instead.

   The Politics

   The ASEAN bloc was once an afterthought in American policy - too small,
   too diverse and too dysfunctional to be an effective player.

   But this summit attests to the importance that the Obama administration
   has attached to the region during its two terms in office.

   In 2011, the Obama administration launched its "pivot to Asia" policy,
   placing the United States in direct competition with China for economic
   power in Southeast Asia, and the political influence and security
   arrangements that frequently go with it.

   The Issues

   While the leaders will certainly discuss regional security issues,
   including territorial disputes in the South China Sea and
   counterterrorism, they will devote equal time to economic issues,
   including the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.

   South China Sea

   Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- as well as China and
   Taiwan -- all lay claim to an array of remote reefs, spits, atolls and
   shoals that have become geopolitical hotspots.  For decades there has
   been building and tinkering on the islets, but recent Chinese military
   construction has prompted fears of conflict.

   Officials say the leaders will aim to agree on a response to a major
   United Nations panel ruling on the disputes that is expected within
   months.

   The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide whether China's
   controversial territorial claim to a vast expanse of sea has any legal
   merit.

   Trade and TPP

   The United States was fourth last year behind the European Union and
   Japan. Southeast Asia was also America's fourth-largest export market
   that year.

   U.S. companies have invested $226 billion in the region, and two-way
   trade was $254 billion last year. The leaders will discuss how to
   expand trade and investment with the help of U.S. entrepreneurship and
   innovation. Also likely on the agenda: the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
   or TPP, Obama's signal achievement on trade, which the administration
   often characterizes as an opportunity for the U.S., rather than China,
   to shape the rules of world trade.

   Counterterrorism

   The U.S. wants to deepen counterterrorism and intelligence cooperation
   with Southeast Asian nations. Despite the region's relative success in
   combating al-Qaida-linked militancy since 9/11, the Islamic State
   group, or IS, appears to be gaining a foothold.

   Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's most populace Muslim
   nation, have all reported citizens traveling to fight in Iraq and
   Syria, and several small militant groups in the Philippines have
   pledged allegiance to IS.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-to-host-strategically-vital-asean-summit/3191186.html