Changing Relationships in Southeast Asia: ASEAN, Indochina, and the Great Powers

Abstract

In 1982, eleven years after the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers endorsed Tun Abdul Razak's Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality in Southeast Asia (ZOPFAN), the region remains a theatre of great power rivalry. But within the theatre, the great powers concerned ? that is, the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Soviet Union, and the United States ? are now differently aligned and playing different roles. To be sure, these changes in re gional roles, although they have become more conspicuous since the fall of Saigon, are rooted in developments of an earlier period and have been largely determined extra-regionally, reflecting basic changes in the policies of the three powers and the relations among them. Nevertheless, developments within Southeast Asia have also played a part in shaping great power roles. Indochina, as in the past, is the principal arena of great power competition, the form of which has been heavily infuenced by decisions made in Hanoi. At the same time, relations with ASEAN have become a much more important ingredient of great power policies. Conflict in Indochina may remain the magnet that draws great power competition more actively into the area. However, the ASEAN countries are no longer mere adjuncts or bystanders. Instead, ASEAN is now playing a critical role.