ASEAN AND AI GOVERNANCE IN A MULTIPLEX WORLD: TOWARD A CONSTRUCTIVIST RESEARCH AGENDA IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

บทคัดย่อ

Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly become an issue of global governance, raising questions not only about technological development but also about norms, authority, identity, and international order. While much of the existing
debate on AI governance has centred on major powers and institutions, e.g. the United States, China, and the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its member states remain relatively underexplored as regional actors in this field. This article argues that ASEAN’s emerging engagement with AI governance should be approached not merely as a technical or regulatory
response, but as a potential site for examining ASEAN identity and regional agency in a multiplex world. The article develops this argument through a focused conceptual review of scholarship on AI governance, constructivism, and ASEAN regionalism, alongside selected ASEAN policy documents. Drawing on constructivist insights, particularly the ideas of norms, identity, norm localisation, and Acharya’s concept of multiplexity, the article proposes a research agenda for studying how ASEAN and its member states may construct, negotiate, and project their identities through AI governance. Rather than conducting an empirical analysis of ASEAN AI policy documents, the article identifies three possible directions for future research:the identity construction of ASEAN and its member states, the localisation of global AI norms in Southeast Asia, and the interaction between regional and
national AI identities. The article connects multiplexity, norm localisation, and regional and national identity to frame questions about ASEAN's AI governance. These questions can guide future comparisons of ASEAN and member-state policy and help identify where regional guidance and national priorities may diverge.