ASEAN and the Southest Asian 'haze': challenging the prevailing modes of regional engagement

Abstract

Southeast Asia’s serious ‘haze’ crisis of 1997–98 was a result of forestry and land practices in Indonesia not conforming to state regulations regarding controls on the use of fire for land clearance. ASEAN devoted much time and attention to the issue, but regional cooperation measures were ineffective. Indonesia’s patrimonial political economy was the root cause, and the mobilisation of NGOs proved the only effective check on the problem, an expedient that has large implications for the future of ASEAN modalities.