THERE is a haunting sceptre that is casting its pernicious shadow across the surface of the planet, a force that threatens to thoroughly dismantle entire democratic institutions – reducing them to rubble – and bastardise justice, equality and freedom.

The growing threat of totalitarianism plaguing the world must be thwarted through the exhaustion of all possible diplomatic instruments for in the words of George Orwell: “It could triumph again” potentially reversing historic global efforts to advocate for fair, equitable and sustainable governance worldwide.

The relationship between the EU-Asean is pivotal in restoring security to the global order. As it celebrates its historic 45-year relationship, the strategic alliance must commit itself to the diversification of its diplomatic solutions.

The Asean regional forum was instrumental in advancing strategic dialogue on international security.

Such intergovernmental platforms serve to not only emphasise important issues that require immediate redress but ensures that international actors establish their commitment ideological harmonisation on strategic concerns.

This presents a strong and united front in the area of conflict-resolution among highly politically volatile nations that suffer from internal pollutants – ranging from power vacuums, military coups, societal polarisation and autocratic governance – which injure the exercise of their democratic organs, causing economic stagnation worldwide.

Achieving regional peace and stability is prioritised for this very reason – in an age which is still very much in its infant recovery stages from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the necessity behind the preservation of democratic initiatives has never come at a more a crucial time as the potential for a global recession is nigh.

The present diplomatic infrastructures in the international arena, while proving to be efficient in mitigating the severity of regional conflict and upset, nevertheless require further update seeing as there are reoccurring global challenges.

It could be concern over the scarcity of resources, economic strain erosion of social cohesion or resentment driven by regional dispute, which threaten to exacerbate unresolved issues in particular regions of the globe, resulting in mass unrest and political turmoil of epic proportions, nearing towards full-blown conflict.

The growing fatigue experienced by the leadership of these nations – as they feel that their concerns lack international attention and support or that they are victims of deliberate international prejudice – aggravates tensions, stokes upset and inflames radicalism.

This may inadvertently motivate irresponsible parties to adopt aggressively authoritarian and autocratic approaches of governance in a desperate attempt to expedite internal stability via suppression of democracy – at the cost of human rights – citing its necessity to avoid national collapse.

This reactionary mechanism – one that is birthed out of a distrust of international diplomacy perceived to be lacklustre, hence leading to a resistance against international concerns – only dislocates globalisation efforts, halting trade and mobility furthering the world to a recession.

Totalitarian governance in the long-term threatens to burn diplomatic bridges, abdicate democratic values from the global map, prolong global progress towards fairness, justice, equality and sustainability.

There is also the risk it will degenerate into political mania and economic mayhem.

Whether it is Myanmar in southeast Asia or Russia and Ukraine in Europe, diplomatic instruments are necessary in alleviating heightened states of totalitarian arousal by exploring democratic avenues such as compromise, stronger and transparent institutions of justice, and preservation of the people’s interest.

This way peaceful resolutions can be achieved through consensus-based international agreements that genuinely gauge the interest of nations in conflict.

The EU-Asean’s historic efforts in preventative diplomacy have been crucial in this area. Their joint-collaboration on crisis management, disaster response, mediation and negotiation, and monitoring of emerging conflicts have proved to inhibit escalating violence.

The EU-Asean may look into new ways in avoiding the recrudescence of totalitarian thought by leveraging democratic outreach programmes devoted to the spread of good governance, establish new partnership initiatives in the area of diplomacy, democratising access to political resources to nations ravaged by instability, and demonstrate commitments to international neutrality when necessary in mediating international conflict.

The EU-Asean faces many challenges – threats to democracy is but one of them – together they strive to thwart the threat of totalitarianism. – February 1, 2023.

* Pravin Periasamy reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.