Put it together: Judge ASEAN's record

H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027

Choose a criterion and see what it reveals about ASEAN.

By which standard is ASEAN most successful?

Stability among members

  • No ASEAN members went to war with each other.
  • Disputes such as Sabah were contained.

ASEAN prevented conflict among diverse, newly independent states.

Disputes were often left unresolved rather than settled.

Diplomatic influence

  • Led UN campaigns over Cambodia.
  • The USA felt it had to consult ASEAN.

As a bloc, small states gained a voice.

It needed great-power backing to change outcomes.

Economic cooperation

  • Preferential Trading Arrangement in 1977.
  • AFTA agreed in 1992.

Cooperation grew, especially after 1992.

Before 1992 national interests blocked real progress.

Security

  • ZOPFAN aimed to keep great powers out.
  • Members rejected a defence pact.

ASEAN reduced tensions that outsiders could exploit.

Members still relied on the USA for defence.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • The USA stays out of the Sabah dispute

    Paraphrase of an action memorandum from Assistant Secretary of State William Bundy to Secretary of State Rusk, 20 May 1968.

  • A CIA assessment of ASEAN

    Paraphrase of a CIA paper, "Regionalism in Southeast Asia: The Growth of ASEAN", 1 January 1981.

  • The USA should consult ASEAN

    Paraphrase of a memorandum from the Director of the State Department's Office of Regional Affairs, East Asia, 31 January 1977.

  • Thailand considers an ASEAN response

    Paraphrase of a telegram from the US embassy in Bangkok to the State Department, 4 January 1979.

  • Lee Kuan Yew on ASEAN's position

    Paraphrase of a letter from Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to President Carter, 1 March 1979.

  • the founding aims, 1967

    Paraphrase of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration), signed by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, 8 August 1967.

  • the leaders report progress, 1977

    Paraphrase of the Joint Communique of the Second ASEAN Heads of Government Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, 5 August 1977.

  • an American intelligence assessment, 1981

    Extract from "Regionalism in Southeast Asia: The Growth of ASEAN", a research paper by the CIA's National Foreign Assessment Center, 1 January 1981, published in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XXII, document 149. A US government document in the public domain.

  • a free trade area, 1992

    Paraphrase of the preamble and Article 2 of the Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation, adopted by the six ASEAN heads of government at the Fourth ASEAN Summit, Singapore, 28 January 1992.

  • bold measures after the crisis, 1998

    Paraphrase of the Statement on Bold Measures, issued by ASEAN leaders at the Sixth ASEAN Summit, Hanoi, 16 December 1998.

  • Vietnam joins ASEAN, 1995

    Extract from the Joint Communique of the 28th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Bandar Seri Begawan, 29-30 July 1995, paragraph 2, as circulated by Brunei Darussalam to the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council (UN document A/49/953-S/1995/652).

  • ASEAN welcomes Laos and Myanmar, 1997

    Paraphrase of paragraph 2 of the Joint Communique of the 30th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, 24-25 July 1997.

  • the American Secretary of State on Burma, 1997

    Extract from an address by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Los Angeles, 23 July 1997, the day before she left for the ASEAN meetings in Kuala Lumpur. Released by the State Department, 24 July 1997. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Cambodia must wait, 1997

    Paraphrase of paragraph 15 of the Joint Communique of the 30th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, 24-25 July 1997, written after fighting in Phnom Penh between the forces of Cambodia's two co-prime ministers in early July.

  • narrowing the gap, 2000

    Paraphrase of the Chairman's Statement of the Fourth ASEAN Informal Summit, Singapore, 24 November 2000, on the Initiative for ASEAN Integration.

  • a cartoon about expansion, 1997

    An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a regional newspaper cartoon published in late July 1997, after ASEAN admitted Laos and Myanmar and postponed Cambodia's entry. It is not a copy of a real cartoon. The words of the figure at the window echo Source C.

The Wise Otter

Getting your study space ready