RUSI JournalVOLUME 167ISSUE 6/7

UK–ASEAN Relations and the Balance of Power in Southeast Asia

The deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth

HMS Queen Elizabeth at Changi Naval Base in Singapore, October 2021. Courtesy of Reuters/Edgar Su/Alamy Stock


The UK seems to recognise the important role of Southeast Asia in the wider region's geopolitics.

The UK has adopted a ‘Global Britain’ foreign policy strategy since the 2016 Brexit referendum. This policy seeks to maintain the UK’s standing internationally while strengthening existing global relations. UK relations with Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) form an important component of this new policy. Laura Southgate examines this new impetus to strengthen UK–ASEAN relations following a period of benign neglect towards the region in the immediate post-Cold War period. In particular, she focuses on the potential success of UK strategy as regards to ASEAN, in light of its extended absence from the region and ASEAN’s growing status as a regional and international power.

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