Kuala Lampur, Oct. 26 -- To understand Asean, one must appreciate the subtle art of silence. The Association of South-east Asian Nations operates like a Sphinx - mysterious, unreadable, yet ever present in the shifting sands of global politics. It is neither static nor inert; rather, it conceals its movements with a deliberateness that confounds even its closest partners.

Observers accustomed to the rapid-fire decision-making of the United States or the European Union often misread Asean's quietude as indecision. But Asean's silence is its speech. Its flexibility, discretion, and caution are not signs of institutional paralysis; they are expressions of survival and maturity in a world too quick to judge and too divided to listen.

The sp...