Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has served primarily as a venue for Southeast Asian countries to coordinate economic policies, but in recent years, it has begun to evolve into a forum for discussing regional security policies as well. The 7th ASEAN Summit is the latest attempt in that direction with its “2001 ASEAN Declaration On Joint Action To Counter Terrorism,” signifying unified US-Southeast Asian cooperation in the “War on Terror.” However, given the lack of consensus on many security and international political issues, economics will remain ASEAN's primary focus in the years ahead, to include extending economic and region-stabilizing cooperation among ASEAN members to China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN +3) as well as India. ASEAN +3 is scheduled to meet in Cambodia this November, to be followed immediately by an ASEAN-India summit, also in Cambodia.
The “Bangkok Declaration”, signed in Bangkok, Thailand on August 8, 1967, signified the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The member countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand agreed to cooperate through economic means to better the lives of their people, ending years of separation due to colonial rule. The First ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976, at which time the ASEAN Secretariat was established and permanently housed in Jakarta. Brunei Darussalem was admitted into ASEAN in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The most recent ASEAN Summit was held in Brunei Darrusalam, from November 4-6, 2001.
The 7th ASEAN Summit brought about a sense of stability in a somewhat unstable time. The ASEAN Declaration against terrorism highlights the increasing cooperation between the United States and the Southeast Asian nations in the “War on Terror.” ASEAN’s closer relations with other parts of Asia are intended to further solidify economic cooperation and growth, thereby facilitating regional stability in the years ahead by raising standards of living and reducing poverty and unemployment.
