From Community to Compliance? The Evolution of Monitoring Obligations in ASEAN (Introduction and Chapter One)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been transformed from a periodic meeting of ministers to become the most important regional organisation in Asia's history. An important tension in this transformation is the question of whether the ‘ASEAN way' — defined by consultation and consensus, rather than enforceable obligations — is consistent with the establishment of a community governed by law. This book examines the evolution of efforts to gather and share information about compliance with international obligations, the other purposes that monitoring has served, and how such regimes might influence ASEAN's ambitious goal of forming an ASEAN Community by 2015