Kuala Lampur, July 4 -- The current state of international diplomacy is being shaped not by declarations etched in treaties, but by gestures and optics that straddle the line between the real and the imagined. The case of the ostensible ceasefire in Gaza is a glaring example. Negotiated under the auspices of President Donald Trump - now in his second non-consecutive term as the 47th President of the United States - the ceasefire proposal is not yet enforceable, but its influence is already far-reaching. It has changed travel plans, softened diplomatic tensions, and - perhaps most importantly - repositioned Southeast Asia's role in global diplomacy.

What's unfolding is a paradox of modern diplomacy: an undeclared ceasefire that, despite n...