week 9

MONDAY

1. THEORY

Regional Integration in Africa

2. ANALYTICS

Making African Trade Work

WEDNESDAY

3. CURRENT ISSUES

VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR

KEY TERMS

safeguard	serving as a protection or defense, ensuring safety
strive	to make strenuous efforts toward any goal
deploy	to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately
eliminate	to remove or get rid of, esp. as being in some way undesirable
integrity	adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty
unanimous	in complete agreement; of one mind
convene	to come together or assemble, usually for some public purpose
preserve	to keep up; maintain; take action to prevent decay
mentor	instruct, learn, teach
deterrent	serving or tending to discourage or restrain from acting or proceeding

FOCUS WORDS

stance	позиция, установка
surge	повышение, быстрый рост, резкий скачок
clamp down	подавлять, прекращать, запретить
nurture	вынашивать, воспитывать, лелеять; питать
standoff	тупик, ничья, безвыходное положение
curtail	сокращать, урезать, уменьшать
inimical	враждебный, недружелюбный, неблагоприятный, вредный
flawed	бракованный; дефектный, ошибочный
imperil	подвергать опасности; рисковать
imply	означать, подразумевать, предполагать, значить

PREPOSITIONS

stance toward
surge in
support for
transform into
on the grounds
in particular
in general
clamp down on
impose on
at a juncture

WORDS FOR REPORT

a clear age gap on the issue

compared with a smaller share

more likely to favor

the survey explored the public’s views about

Overall,

In regard to the negative consequences,

substantial majorities

no statistically significant difference by age

GRAMMAR PATTERNS

At a time when large powers and global trends are reshaping the regional environment, the only way for ASEAN countries to advance their interests effectively is by working together.

ASEAN has undergone an impressive turnaround in the past five decades.

The benefits of free and open trade are being questioned, international institutions are being challenged, new geopolitical powers are rising.

ASEAN members will feel the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution acutely.

The working-age population in the bloc is increasing by 11,000 people daily and will continue to grow at this rate for the next 15 years.

The demographic expansion is happening just as many existing jobs will be substituted by intelligent automation and AI.

Faced with these disruptive shifts, ASEAN must strengthen its community.

Indeed, the bloc has long been praised for its “open regionalism,” whereby it pursues economic integration among member states without discriminating against non-ASEAN economies.

With the architecture of global governance being challenged, ASEAN members must make their voices heard if they want a world that supports their interests.

Individually, Southeast Asia’s countries carry little weight; collectively, however, they represent almost a tenth of the world’s population and nearly 5% of its GDP.

Historically, ASEAN has played a pivotal role in facilitating regional relationships, giving rise to the notion of “ASEAN centrality” in Asia.

In 1993, the bloc established the ASEAN Regional Forum – now with 27 members – to foster dialogue on political and security concerns.

It established the East Asia Summit, currently with 18 member states, in 2005.

Today, however, the geopolitical context is evolving.

Unless ASEAN remains united as a bloc, it will lose its ability to convene regional actors, mediate disputes, and shape principles of international behavior and interaction.

But a reassessment is needed if ASEAN is to speak with a strong voice on regional matters, rather than allowing dissenting voices within the group to prevent the adoption of collective positions.

Given that existing global institutions are being challenged, and given the rise of Asia in global affairs, ASEAN must reinforce its ability to influence the debate.