Why ASEAN was formed in 1967

H2 History - syllabus 9174, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge why ASEAN was formed in 1967 and what shaped how it grew.

    Syllabus 9174, Paper 2, Theme III, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the factors for the formation and development of ASEAN

Make a guess

Five Southeast Asian states founded ASEAN in 1967. What do you think its main purpose was?

  1. To manage regional quarrels and build stability in uncertain times.
  2. To form a military alliance against communist China and Vietnam.
  3. To create a single market with one currency.
Show the answer

To manage regional quarrels and build stability in uncertain times.

Konfrontasi had just ended, other disputes remained, and members wanted resilience against communism without a military pact.

ASEAN was founded to manage regional quarrels, build national resilience and cope with an uncertain Cold War environment.

On 8 August 1967, five states signed the Bangkok Declaration. They were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The new group was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Its stated aims were to work together on trade, society and culture, and to keep the region peaceful and stable.

Regional needs drove it. Indonesia's Konfrontasi against Malaysia had ended only in 1966. Other quarrels, such as the Philippine claim to Sabah, remained. Two earlier groups, formed in 1961 and 1963, had failed. ASEAN offered a way to handle quarrels by talking.

Each member had its own aims. Indonesia under Suharto wanted to rebuild trust and to lead the region. Singapore, independent only since 1965, wanted to be accepted and to be safe. Thailand, whose foreign minister Thanat Khoman hosted the meeting, wanted strong non-communist neighbours.

The Cold War made it urgent. The Vietnam War was growing. Communist rebels threatened several members. And in 1967-68 Britain said it would pull its forces out of the region. Members hoped that working together would make them rely less on outside powers.

Bangkok Declaration
8 August 1967.
Founding members
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand.
Earlier groupings
ASA (1961) and Maphilindo (1963).
British withdrawal
Announced 1967-68, east of Suez.

Real examples to use

Failed forerunners, 1961 and 1963

ASA (1961) and Maphilindo (1963) both broke down over the Sabah claim and Konfrontasi, so ASEAN in 1967 started with a habit of quarrels to manage.

Konfrontasi ends, August 1966

Indonesia's undeclared war on Malaysia ended only a year before the Bangkok Declaration of 8 August 1967, which brought both into one body.

British decision, 16 January 1968

Britain announced it would leave its bases east of Suez, including Singapore and Malaysia, by 1971, which made regional self-reliance more urgent.

Worked example: Weighing the factors behind formation

An H2 essay asks which factor did most to shape ASEAN's formation.

  1. Regional interests: managing disputes after Konfrontasi.
  2. Member interests: Indonesia's rehabilitation, Singapore's security, Thailand's concerns.
  3. Cold War: Vietnam, insurgencies and British withdrawal.
  4. Judgement: the Cold War created urgency, but regional reconciliation made ASEAN possible.

Watch out for this

ASEAN was formed as a military alliance against communism.

ASEAN avoided a military role. Its aims were cooperation and stability, though its members were all non-communist and worried about communism.

Check your understanding

Which event just before 1967 made ASEAN possible?

  1. The end of the Vietnam War with the Paris Peace Accords
  2. The end of Konfrontasi against Malaysia in 1966
  3. The fall of Saigon to communist forces
Show the answer

The end of Konfrontasi against Malaysia in 1966

Right. Reconciliation allowed former rivals to cooperate.

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.

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