Robert Yates

In 1590, Sir George Bruce built a stone tower out in the waters of the Firth of Forth. Down through it a shaft was sunk, 40ft to the seam of coal below, and a corresponding shaft was dug for drainage. It was a breathtaking feat of 16th-century engineering.

This book assesses the important role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the management of regional political, security and economic relations. The author argues that ASEAN’s prominent role in the region, spanning 50 years, is largely due to the acquiescence of the great powers who endorsed ASEAN, accepted its regional position and accorded the institution a legitimacy and durability that, otherwise, it would not have. This text offers a key intervention into the debate regarding ASEAN and regional order by showing how ASEAN’s contribution to order management is part of a negotiated division of labour with the great powers. The author applies an innovative social roles analysis, which captures the dynamic interactions between ASEAN and the great powers from the Cold War to the present day.

"The poetry of Robert Yates is both brooding and exacting; something about it unnerves us, it sees too clearly into things: the dystopian vacuity of modern life, our shared language doomed to a series of dull clucks and futile gestures. Don't come to these poems for consolation, but for the exhilaration of seeing all with absolute clarity. Uncompromising and strangely haunting stuff." Fran Lock

This book assesses the important role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the management of regional political, security and economic relations. The author argues that ASEAN’s prominent role in the region, spanning 50 years, is largely due to the acquiescence of the great powers who endorsed ASEAN, accepted its regional position and accorded the institution a legitimacy and durability that, otherwise, it would not have. This text offers a key intervention into the debate regarding ASEAN and regional order by showing how ASEAN’s contribution to order management is part of a negotiated division of labour with the great powers. The author applies an innovative social roles analysis, which captures the dynamic interactions between ASEAN and the great powers from the Cold War to the present day.