With a population of over 500 million
people, Southeast Asia is blessed with diverse ethnicities, languages, food and
music. Unfortunately, this richness in culture
and art has never been explored in order to introduce and promote ASEAN
integration as leaders of the region have opted to focus on security, political
and economic issues.
Cultural activities and cooperation
among ASEAN members are integral parts of the ASEAN road map, but few events
have been organized to realize this cultural diplomacy.
Youths are the main consumers of popular culture. They are
looking for alternative fresh ways to deal with problems and cultural diplomacy
seems to fit in with their mission, similarly with sporting diplomacy.
The last is the presence of trust between
different societies. In a forum of culture, each group will present their
values, beliefs, norms and ideologies. Cultural events are the place for
celebrating difference.
Participants are encouraged to respect different
values and norms. Freedom of expression gives room for creating friendships and
trust between them. ASEAN has designed a roadmap to promote cultural diplomacy.
Economic,
political and security cooperation will always be important issues but cultural
diplomacy has been neglected for a long time. However, ASEAN is blessed with a
diversity of cultures.
Source:
1) 1.) Verdinand Robertua 2015, Where is ASEAN cultural diplomacy?, viewed 10 July 2015, <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/06/14/where-asean-cultural-diplomacy.html>
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