Variations on a (Hedging) Theme: Comparing ASEAN Core States’ Alignment Behavior

This chapter compares the foreign policy responses of three “core” ASEAN states—Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore—vis-à-vis an assertive China and a rebalancing America.1 The weaker states have all pursued a hedging approach, not taking sides and adopting contradictory policies aimed at keeping a fallback position. There are subtle, but crucial, variations in their responses—different degrees and forms of their fallback-maintenance efforts, i.e., the military, political, and economic measures seeking to mitigate the risks of uncertainty. Indonesia and Singapore have persistently demonstrated a greater readiness than Malaysia to cultivate political and military options to hedge against the uncertainty surrounding China’s rise, but with varying attitudes about America’s countervailing role.