TOKYO -- With rivalries among the U.S., China and other powers intensifying, ASEAN can play the role of mediator by using the Southeast Asian bloc's focus on building internal consensus, former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told Nikkei.
Yudhoyono became Indonesia's first directly elected president in 2004, spearheading critical democratic reforms until he left office a decade later. Edited excerpts from the interview follow.
