The Association of Southeast Asian Nations: an introduction

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Since the early days of ASEAN, Southeast Asian regionalism has been regarded as a distinctive form of intergovernmental cooperation, usually labelled the ‘ASEAN way’. The introductory analysis of ASEAN’s general achievements can be summarised in five broad arguments. First, ASEAN is a successful collective actor on the international stage. Since 1972, when ASEAN initiated an institutionalised dialogue with the European Community, it has developed a network of regional and global meetings that today involve more than a dozen global players. Second, is ASEAN’s role as a regional conflict mediator, since the organisation has demonstrated its willingness to find regional solutions to regional problems. Third, ASEAN can be described as a partial security community: diplomacy and the existence of - mainly informal - mechanisms of conflict management (but not necessarily effective conflict resolution) in Southeast Asia has helped to contain bilateral problems. Fourth, ASEAN has gained importance as an inter-personal network. High-ranking government officials, scholars, and representatives of the private sector within the ASEAN framework have forged a close network of personal links. Fifth, ASEAN is important as a framework for economic development Taking the aforementioned four aspects together, ASEAN has created for itself a peaceful and stable regional situation. This situation, in turn, has contributed to a conducive climate for ASEAN countries to pursue their national economic development.