Australia has been an ASEAN dialogue partner since 1974, an acknowledgement of the centrality of ASEAN to the country’s regional security. There have been ASEAN summits with Japan, China, the United States and India but the one   in Sydney this weekend is the first in Australia.

The summit comes at a time when leaders in ASEAN and Australia confront several strategic choices. None is more important than how they respond to the threat to the global trading system, the foundation of East Asia’s prosperity and a critical element in its security.