Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

AC Professors Sound Off on EDCA, ASEAN Integration

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Category: News @ UP Asian Center

Professors of the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman published last week commentaries on ASEAN integration and the U.S-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).  

In "ASEAN’s elusive integration,” published in the Talk of the Town section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Dr. Eduardo C. Tadem argues that while hopes for the economic integration of ASEAN by 2015 are high among state and market players, there are serious obstacles to such integration. Notions of national sovereignty continue to undermine regional integration, and a Southeast Asian identity among citizens of member-countries has yet to crystallize. Intra-ASEAN trade has been stagnant since 1995, and the trend, instead, has been towards increased external economic ties with non-ASEAN countries. And trade disputes, territorial conflicts, and different levels of economic development also hamper efforts economic integration. Read the article, "ASEAN's elusive integration."

In her commentary, “Implications of the U.S. Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)",  published in the Asia Pacific Bulletin of the East West Center,  Dr. Aileen Baviera unpacks the significance of Obama’s recent visit to the Philippines and outlines what the country can hope to expect from EDCA. She discusses the implications of the visit and the signing of the EDCA on US-China relations, and on the Philippines’ territorial and maritime disputes with China. Dr. Baviera argues that “the EDCA provides it[the Philippines] with a window of opportunity to work doubly hard on its own defense modernization, with US assistance through training and acquisitions, toward the end-goal of developing what Manila has called ‘minimum credible defense’ capability.” Download the article, Implications of the U.S. Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. 

Dr. Eduardo Tadem handles graduate classes in Southeast Asian Studies, including a course on Theories and Perspectives in Area Studies. He obtained his Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore. Dr. Aileen Baviera is the former dean of the Asian Center and teaches graduate courses on the Philippines’ relations with the Asia Pacific, and on Chinese politics and governance.

The Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman offers graduate programs in Asian Studies, covering Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia. The Center also offers an MA and a Ph.D. on Philippine Studies.