Performing Under Pressure: Lessons for Supporting Multilateralism from Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia

By Huong Le Thu

Critics predicted the G20, APEC and ASEAN summits held in 2022 wouldn’t deliver results given the Russia-Ukraine war and tense geopolitical environment posed huge challenges to consensus decision-making. However, the small and middle powers of Southeast Asia – Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia – demonstrated their ability to facilitate multilateral cooperation. 

In her latest report, published as part of the Perth USAsia Centre’s Indo-Pacific Insight Series, Principal Policy Fellow Dr Huong Le Thu explores these countries’ successful approaches to multilateralism. She argues: Australian foreign policy makers should continue to take small and middle power perspectives into account when planning their engagement in the 2023 summits.