ASEAN´s Bridges to Vietnam and Laos

Abstract

Vietnam and Laos have acceded to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Co-operation, bringing them into the ASEAN political process. This rapprochement was preceded by initiatives characteristic of behaviour between ASEAN partners; bilateral consultations and development of trade and investment ties were begun significantly with those ASEAN members which had been most suspicious of Vietnam. To that extent, the Treaty can be seen as confirming and articulating economic co-operation. and evidence of amity already demonstrated. To borrow a metaphor from Philippine President Fidel Ramos, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have begun a process of building bridges to Vietnam and Laos that will span decades of hostility between Cold War adversaries and expand the security order in Southeast Asia. In the past, observed Sukhumbhand Paribatra, dur ing the late 1960s such a regional security order existed only among the ASEAN states. ASEAN was joined together by establishing certain rules and norms in the conduct of relations with one another.1 Examining relations among present ASEAN partners can yield important lessons about the nature of the Association and the means for integrating new states, namely, building bridges of strong bilateral ties based on the foun dation principles of commitment to amity and pragmatic co-operation, leaving details to be worked out later in low-level, quiet diplomacy.