Humanitarian Intervention and the Question of Sovereignty: The Case of ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has thrived as a regional institution that defends the traditional understanding of Westphalian sovereignty. In the post-Cold War era, however, pressure from within the international community to redefine sovereignty to accommodate humanitarian intervention has placed ASEAN in a difficult position. Historically, ASEAN has actively opposed the idea of humanitarian intervention. However, the ASEAN states have had to acknowledge that such a norm is emerging within the international society. Moreover, ASEAN's inconsistent defense of its professed values, particularly its reaction to the US invasion of Iraq, has undermined ASEAN's ability to defend the traditional definition of sovereignty.