Throughout his works, Leifer has dismissed neoliberal institutionalism by rejecting the existence of corporate interests within ASEAN. His main stance was claiming that while international institutions might have the capability to cope with some uncertainties, they would never be able to overcome the perennial problem of power, especially in face of rising powers and challenges to the status quo.
While often been perceived as highly skeptical of the prospects of regional integration, of the issue of regionalization and of the notion of finding ‘Asian solutions to Asian problems’, Leifer has actually devoted much attention to the study of regionalism. Acharya himself suggests that ‘it might be erroneous to align Leifer with American (neo-)realism, of the kind associated with Waltz and Mearsheimer’, it would be wiser to align him with the works of Hedley Bull instead. Similarly to Bull and the English School, Leifer saw in international institutions their importance for shaping world politics and was very attentive to the issue of intergovernmental conflict and cooperation within ASEAN.