Kanaev Evgeniy

ASEAN and COVID-19: the Connectivity Agenda amid the Lockdown

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2020, №4(49), 5-19

 
Annotation: The article reveals the specificity of the policy implemented by As-sociation of ASEAN towards strengthening regional connectivity in 2020. On analyzing the origins and the evolution of connectivity as a part of ASEAN’s political narrative, the article further proceeds with an outline of responses from ASEAN and its member states to the COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is paid to the transformation of ASEAN’s connectivity agenda between 2010 and 2020 with new nuances added by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the author’s opinion, an increasing politicization of connectivity due to ASEAN’s lack of resources is behind ASEAN’s slipping into dependency on its dialogue partners, mainly on China.

Keywords: ASEAN, Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure, multilateral initiatives, ASEAN dialogue partners, digi-talization.