This book offers a timely examination of the political economy shaping ASEAN’s place within an evolving global order. Bringing together empirically grounded chapters, it traces how regional and global alignments with ASEAN are being recalibrated amid shifting power structures, economic transformation, and competing visions of international governance. Rather than treating ASEAN as a passive arena, the volume foregrounds its agency—showing how existing trajectories can be understood, contested, and strategically moulded to advance a more equitable world order.

The contributors draw on hard evidence and bring high levels of experiential and tacit knowledge, reflecting their close engagement with policy processes and developments. As a result, the book not only interprets the latest dynamics in regional and global political economy but also equips readers with rigorous insights into how these dynamics are unfolding and why they matter.

“Our contemporary conjuncture is defined by intersecting polycrises, escalating geopolitical tensions, and deepening ecological precarities. In this turbulent context, Professors Rasiah, Rogers, and Saravanamuttu have edited a conceptually robust and carefully curated volume that makes a significant analytical contribution to the critique of the global political economy.”
--Rasigan Maharajh, Professor of Public Affairs, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology.

Rajah Rasiah (Dato’) obtained his doctorate in economics from Cambridge University in 1992. He is the Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Institute at Universiti Malaya. Among his prestigious awards include the Robert McNamara Award in 1993 (alternate) from the World Bank, the Celso Furtado Prize for advancing the frontiers of Social Science thought (Economics) from the World Academy of Sciences in 2015, and the Merdeka Prize in 2018. He was awarded the Distinguished Professor of Economics Position in 2017. He has published over 40 books and 450 scientific articles.

Roy Anthony Rogers is currently Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Strategic and International Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya. H e obtained his Ph.D. from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 2012. H is research interest are government and politics of the Central Asian republics and human rights conditions in Xinjiang. He was formerly the Deputy Director of Research, Publications, International Exchange, and Development at the Asia Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya.

Johan Saravanamuttu is Adjunct Professor at the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya. He is also Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia where he retired as Professor. He is the author of the book, Malaysia's Foreign Policy: The First Fifty Years - Alignment, Neutralism, Islamism, (Singapore: ISEAS, 2010).