It might sound pompous to keep stating the strategic importance of Southeast Asia over the past year due mainly to the three heavy-weight summits held in the neighbourhood. Historically speaking, it has always been this way since the colonial period when European powers gobbled up land, suppressed local people, and gained and influenced footholds throughout the region's mainland and archipelagos.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, the war has helped to highlight the value of Southeast Asia under the umbrella of Asean and put the bloc on the global geostrategic map. In the past, it was the Cold War that placed Southeast Asia at the heart of regional conflict.
