Future Engagement Between the Quad and ASEAN: Domestic Politics Constrain Inter-group Regional Engagement

Limited engagement between the Quad and the Association for Southeast Nations (ASEAN) has inspired a growing body of scholarship that examines the various factors contributing to these constrains. What is missing from the literature is that it falls short of fully explaining the complexities of the ASEAN-Quad relationship. Notably, these analyses heavily focused on structural factors, namely uncertainties caused by US-China rivalry, while lacking attention to domestic political dynamics of member states within ASEAN and the Quad. This chapter will address the literature gap. It argues that inter-group engagement between the Quad and ASEAN has been deeply shaped by the two grouping leaders’ strategies of domestic legitimacy enhancement.