The escalating tensions between the United States and China have compelled ASEAN states to recalibrate their engagement with these two major powers, as well as their intra-state relations. In fact, ASEAN states face multifaceted risks; these include China’s growing assertiveness, the United States’ diminishing commitments, and the perils of entrapment by great powers, regional polarization, and the marginalization of ASEAN. By using a comparative research methodology approach and scanning surveys on the issue, this article elucidates the key risks being encountered by ASEAN countries as they navigate towards managing external major stakeholders, viz. the US and China, in the fast transforming geo-economic and geo-political landscape. Three pertinent questions are addressed through four sections including the introduction. Findings point to member states moving closer to China, even as they manage their relations with both. The 48th ASEAN Summit held in May 2026 points to the responses of ASEAN members in protecting the grouping’s cohesiveness, while managing internal and external exigencies such as the energy security crisis. Initiatives undertaken during the Summit point towards ASEAN countries endeavoring to reclaim their geo-economic centrality and resilience.