This paper examines the relationship between development, inter national power, and dependence. In order to explain why some depen dent countries managed to achieve impressive development progress while others remained underdeveloped, a simple theory of interna tional power is developed. International power is differentiated into two generic types: asystemic power which is a property of the national actor (based on power attributes of the nation), and systemic power which is a property of the international system of relations (based on reciprocal power-dependence relations). Attention is focused upon properties of balance and balancing operations for both types of power. A strategy, based on the eight balancing operations and the cost-reduction operation, dictated by the theory, is proposed to maxi mize the possibilities for development in the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region. This is the strategy of open self reliant regionalism. Examples and applications are drawn mainly from Southeast Asia. Development theories today tend to involve two distinct interna tional strategies. The first group of theories propounded mainly by conservative scholars tend to see the lack of development in less developed countries as a result of some lag or lack, whether these be in terms of resources, technology, manpower, or institutions. Based on comparisons with developed countries, factors amiss, or even present in the case of obstacles to development, in less developed countries are said to be responsible. Underdevelopment and lack are seen to perpetuate one another within a vicious circle, one very similar to that of poverty as propounded by the economist Nurkse.1 The problem is seen as being endogenous in nature. The solution to this problem would therefore be to inject whatever is amiss into these countries in order to break the vicious circle and hence achieve devel opment. Such a strategy would involve dependence on developed 155