A Literature Survey of Educational, Political, and Economic Challenges in the ASEAN Countries: A Critical Analysis

It is now obvious that numerous issues need to be considered to make the ASEAN Community (AC) a reality rather than an illusion. The current state of education, economy, and politics in ASEAN remains far from satisfactory in achieving the desired vision in the ASEAN Charter and goals in its three blueprints: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Blueprint, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint. Thus, ignoring challenges and opportunities presented in the scholarly literature, reports, the media, and other outlets would result in substantial dilemmas in terms of growth and development in different sectors in the region. The purpose of this article is to articulate and emphasize challenges that ASEAN governments should confront and add it to their agendas to achieve the APSC, the AEC, and the ASCC goals. This paper consists of four sections. Section I describes educational challenges in the ASCC. Section II illustrates economic challenges in the AEC. Section III presents political challenges in the APSC. Section IV explores critical thinking questions about all areas covered in the paper. Finally, the authors drew a succinct conclusion.