Current Perspectives on Geopolitics among Southeast Asian Youths

Using mixed purposive and open sampling methods, this series of Focus Group Discussions engaged thirty-three youths from the ASEAN-6 countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—between September and October 2024. Semi-structured interview questions and polling methods were used, and the results were aggregated and comparisons made for all age groups found in The State of Southeast Asia 2024 survey. 

Overall, the study’s findings are fourfold. (1) Mainstream news sources remained the most referred source of information for youth elites in the region. (2) Young Southeast Asian elites had a stronger preference for China over the US when compared to respondents across all age groups in The State of Southeast Asia 2024 survey. (3) Japan and India emerged as the top preferred hedging partners for Southeast Asian youth. This stood in contrast to the results of the general survey where the EU emerged as the most preferred choice. (4) Youth elites in the region were deeply concerned about ASEAN becoming an arena for major power competition, the ineffectiveness of the organization, the disunity, and the growing disconnect with the average Southeast Asian citizen.