This special edition of the CSIS Commentaries is published at a right time for ASEAN. As the region enters the midpoint of Malaysia’s 2025 Chairmanship, we find an opportunity to reflect on how far the regional project has come, and more importantly, where it is heading. With major milestones such as the adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the 20th Anniversary of the East Asia Summit, the year 2025 invites both retrospection and forward thinking.

Titled Outlook of 2025 ASEAN and Related Summits, this publication brings together a diverse range of voices—scholars, diplomats, and policy practitioners—to capture key trends shaping ASEAN today. It aims not to provide a definitive judgment, but rather to frame discussions on ASEAN’s evolving role amid shifting regional dynamics and internal ambitions for reform and renewal. ASEAN continues to navigate a complex regional and global environment marked by intensifying U.S.-China rivalry, rising protectionism, and the erosion of international norms and multilateralism, further complicated by growing perceptions of double standards in global governance. The region faces mounting pressures to remain unified amidst different levels of interests between ASEAN members towards a common regional problem, posing a challenge to ASEAN’s cohesion. These dynamics are further compounded by preference for unilateral actions, stalled efforts to address legal ambiguities in regional disputes, a lack of global leadership in politically sensitive humanitarian crises likeMyanmar, and accelerating competition across economic, technological, and security arenas—all of which test ASEAN’s unity and institutional relevance.

Titles in this edition include:

  • Setting the Stage for the 2025 Kuala Lumpur Summit
  • The Expected Deliverables and Priorities of the 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship
  • The Implication of ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and The Prospect of ASEAN's Future
  • Outlook of Timor-Leste's Accession to ASEAN Full Membership
  • Midterm Check-In: Can the East Asia Summit Keep ASEAN Relevant?
  • From Cyclone Nargis to the Mandalay Earthquake: Opportunities for ASEAN to Reassert Its Relevance
  • Through Headwinds and High Tides: Navigating ASEAN’s Stormy Voyage in 2025
  • Reflection on the 30th   Anniversary of Vietnam’s Accession to ASEAN: Thoughts from Hanoi
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