Why Southeast Asia will stand up to Trump

Donald Trump's presidential victory has generated a frenzy of commentary on global geopolitics and geoeconomics unlike any previous election. For a start, leaders critical or contemptuous of Trump have had not only to swallow their pride. Many have now publicly retracted their earlier opinions and started to eat crow.  

Possibly the most striking example is Australia’s former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, currently Australia’s Ambassador to the United States. In 2020, Rudd condemned Trump as the “most destructive president in history” while in 2022 he denounced Trump as a “traitor to the West” for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Immediately after Trump’s victory, Rudd purged his personal and social media accounts of his anti-Trump posts - an action which Peter Dutton, Australia’s opposition leader responded to by predicting that Rudd would follow up with further attempts to ingratiate himself with the new government.

He’ll be down at the tie shop, he’d be buying up red ties, he’d be buying red hats, he’ll be ordering those MAGA hats. He will do everything he can to ingratiate himself with the Trump campaign. So he’s indefatigable, as we know.

None of the leaders in the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) are likely to engage in the brown nosing and submissive behaviour that we are seeing from allies of the US - including from the Asian Pacific region - in their efforts to apple-polish Trump and his incoming administration, and to curry favour.

What Southeast Asians really think of the US 

Not only is there no need for ASEAN leaders to buy MAGA merchandise especially submarines and missile systems or to ingratiate themselves further with the new US president, there is every reason we can expect ASEAN member countries and leaders to uphold the organisation’s independent and non aligned principles in the tumultuous era that lies ahead.

An important marker for ASEAN’s foreign policy stance for the next four years has already been established by Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. While congratulating Trump on his remarkable comeback victory, Anwar  expressed the hope that Trump’s victory would bring positive changes in geopolitics, particularly to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

We will welcome any positive stance by the United States towards peace, particularly efforts to halt Israel's violent attacks on Gaza and to acknowledge the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

This call by Malaysia as the incoming chair of ASEAN in 2025 for the new US administration to change its war-oriented ideological position pursued by the Biden administration, and presently playing out in respect to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and elsewhere where earlier presidents have sought to reinforce American dominance, should not be regarded as unrealistic or futile.

Although criticised by western liberal media and think-tanks for his unpredictable ways and combustible foreign policy, Trump previously undertook an unprecedented peace initiative in dealing with North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un.

During his recent campaign Trump repeatedly promised to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. It is equally possible that he will do the same in Gaza if there is strong and sustained pressure from his western allies and the rest of the world.