Asean

Abstract

Like a youth who quickly grows up under stress, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has matured rapidly because of the enormous pressures upon it. When the original ASEAN Declaration was signed in August 1967 by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, few observers believed that the new organization would be any more effective than previous efforts at regional solidarity. The Declaration's aims were modest. It said that ASEAN would accelerate the economic, social, and cultural development of Southeast Asia, promote regional peace and stability, and encourage training, research, and regional studies. There was no mention of a political alliance or of defense. In its early years, ASEAN seemed to stumble through a wasteland of committee meetings, resolutions, and project blueprints. There was a depressing lack of results. Then came a series of deep political tremors that shook Asia to its roots. The US withdrawal from Vietnam, the Guam Doctrine, the Communist victories in Indochina, the death of Mao Tse-tung, the Vietnamese conquest of Cambodia-all these sent out shock waves that could easily have fragmented ASEAN, and even engulfed some of its members. To its enduring credit, ASEAN did not fall apart. Instead, the member states drew together, forged a united political front, and speeded up the processes of economic cooperation. The result is that ASEAN today is a high-value counter in the game of Asian power politics.