Article
Southeast Asia and the Ukraine Crisis

By : Vinod Anand

Page No: 324-336

Abstract
It might seem that Southeast Asia is largely unaffected by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, however, this article opines that it cannot be said that the countries of the region remain isolated from its political and economic implications. The article argues that the impact of the strategic contestation between Russia and the US-led Western alliance in Ukraine and the ongoing US-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, are being felt in the existing strategic dynamics in Southeast Asia as in other regions. With China supporting Russia on the Ukraine issue, some of the ASEAN states have become even more concerned about a plausible attempt by Beijing to consolidate its territorial expansion in the South China Sea or invade Taiwan. The regional states are also concerned about the rising costs of the conflict to their trade, tourism and oil dependent economies. The article analyses the varied responses of the regional states to the conflict with Singapore and Myanmar as the two extremes. Most of the other states have taken a middle position of neither supporting nor openly criticising Russia, and have called for a cessation and peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Author : 
Brig. Vinod Anand is a Senior Fellow at the Vivekanand Internation Foundation (VIF), New Delhi. He writes on military and Strategic issues in Asia, with  focus on central Asia and Mymamar. His recent publications include the monographs: Pak-Afgan Equation and Future of Afginasthan and Multi-Vector Politics of the Central Asian Republic and India.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2022.05.03.3