ASEAN Multilateral Defense Cooperation And Disaster Management Mechanism Construction

In view of the severe frequency of disasters and strong destructiveness in the ASEAN region,ASEAN has listed disaster management as one of the eight objectives since its inception.Since the 1970 s,after 50 years of exploration,it has established a disaster management mechanism covering disaster assessment and early warning,emergency response,and post-disaster recovery.The academic circles have explored the construction of ASEAN disaster management mechanism,case analysis and future development trend.In addition to the ASEAN disaster management mechanism,the ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation has also established a disaster management mechanism,which has become an important external supplementary force.The collaborative mechanism established by the two has also promoted the ASEAN disaster management mechanism from its own system construction to coordinated development between mechanisms.However,there is still little research on this development trend in academia,especially as to why ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation was involved in disaster management,the establishment and development of disaster management mechanisms under the framework of ASEAN multilateral defense,the content of norms,the significance,and the existing problems.The first chapter of this essay traces the history of ASEAN disaster management mechanisms and the historical process of mechanism construction.Since 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami,it has experienced the process from early development to institutional innovation.ASEAN has established ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management as core decision-making body,appointed ASEAN Secretariat as the coordination unit,enacted ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response as legal framework and institutional guarantee,issued ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response Work Plan as the operational strategy and set up AHA Center as operating unit.However,under the constraints of the ASEAN way,the ASEAN disaster management mechanism is faced with the dilemma of insufficient resources and limited power,so it does not perform well in disaster management practices.As mechanisms such as the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF),the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting(ADMM),ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus(ADMM-Plus)have been launched one after another,ASEAN countries have changed their attitude towards multilateral defense cooperation from rejection to acceptance.In view of the characteristics of low political sensitivity,high realistic demand and great prospects,disaster management has become an important area for ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation,building a dual-track disaster management cooperation mechanism.The Track I cooperation mechanism is composed of the ARF,ADMM,and ADMM-Plus.These are formal consultation platforms for regional and cross-regional disaster management cooperation.As an extension of the Track I,the cooperation of the Track II is mainly represented by the Track II Network of ASEAN Defense and Security Institutions,and plays an important role in legalizing the military,promoting institutionalization,and providing policy advice and consultation.The disaster management mechanism under the ASEAN multilateral defense framework recognizes the core position of the existing mechanism dominated by the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response and becomes an important external supplement,which together constitute a civilian-military department coordinated management mechanism.The disaster management action initiatives under the ADMM effectively integrate the military resources of the ten ASEAN countries and establish a military resource coordination model that is embedded in the ASEAN disaster management mechanism.The “ASEAN+” mechanisms such as the ARF and the ADMM-Plus introduce outside countries to participate in defense cooperation.On the basis of the ASEAN Centrality,“ASEAN+” mechanisms recognize the core dominance of the ASEAN disaster management mechanism and work as an important external supplementary forces and play a synergistic role.The disaster management norms under the ASEAN multilateral defense framework have evolved on the basis of inheritance and innovation.In terms of the ASEAN way at the macro level,it still adheres to the principle of national sovereignty and flexibly explains the principles of non-interference,informality,and consensus decision-making.In terms of comprehensive security norms,it still pursues national security,and in practice moves closer to human security and creatively solves non-traditional security issues with traditional security methods on the basis of adhering to comprehensive security methods.Finally,in the specific practice of disaster management at the micro level,it continues the core humanitarian norms and introduces multilateral defense cooperation norms into it,which together constitute the content of the disaster management norms under the ASEAN multilateral defense framework.The significance of the disaster management mechanism in the ASEAN multilateral defense framework can be understood from three aspects.For the ASEAN disaster management mechanism,it not only integrates the defense forces of ASEAN countries,but also introduces the defense forces of countries outside the region,thereby greatly making up for the shortage of ASEAN disaster management departments.More importantly,this is a cross-sectoral cooperation,which promotes the ASEAN disaster management mechanism from the stage of system construction to the stage of coordinated development between mechanisms.As far as ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation is concerned,disaster management has become a representative result of pragmatic cooperation between ASEAN defense departments,building a complete management mechanism and normative framework,and becoming increasingly mature in practice,which is conducive to the further development of ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation.In the construction of the ASEAN community,disaster management cooperation under the ASEAN multilateral defense framework maintains ASEAN centrality,and effectively integrates the ASEAN socio-cultural community and political–security community to help shape the common identity.Of course,the disaster management mechanism under the ASEAN multilateral defense framework still faces certain limitations.The first is the overlap of mechanisms and serious competition,and it is difficult to provide differentiated regional disaster management public products and also brings difficulties to coordination.Secondly,although the ASEAN defense department has built a complete disaster management cooperation framework,in the actual disaster rescue process,the strategy of thinking in a multilateral way but take action in a bilateral way is generally adopted,which greatly reduces the effectiveness of the disaster management mechanism under the multilateral defense framework.Finally,disaster management itself should follow humanitarian norms,but the intervention of multilateral security dialogues and cooperation in the defense sector has undoubtedly increased the political color and even evolved into a tool for political competition and game in big powers.The above factors restrict the effectiveness of ASEAN multilateral defense cooperation in disaster management,and will also restrict the development and improvement of ASEAN disaster management mechanisms.ASEAN proposed in the ASEAN Vision 2025 on Disaster Management as the role of the future global disaster management leader.From the current point of view,this goal is unrealistic.In the future,ASEAN will still focus on regional disaster management cooperation and establish a truly multi-level,multi-sectoral,multi-stakeholder collaborative management mechanism in a gradual manner.