Judging ASEAN: the ASEAN Way and its limits

H2 History - syllabus 9174, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge how well ASEAN built stability, security and economic cooperation in the region over time.

    Syllabus 9174, Paper 2, Theme III, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the outcomes of ASEAN's efforts in building regional stability and security and promoting regional economic cooperation over time

Make a guess

ASEAN members decide only when all agree, and do not criticise each other in public. What do you think this achieved?

  1. Very little, because members could rarely agree on anything.
  2. Peace between members, but limits on what ASEAN could do.
  3. Fast, bold decisions on each regional problem.
Show the answer

Peace between members, but limits on what ASEAN could do.

No two members went to war during the Cold War, but consensus slowed action and avoided hard issues.

Consensus and non-interference kept ASEAN united and members at peace, but limited what it could achieve.

The ASEAN Way means deciding only when all agree, not criticising members in public, and not meddling in their internal affairs. It suited young, varied states that guarded their independence closely.

Its success was stability. No two ASEAN members went to war with each other during the Cold War, though several had serious quarrels. Regular meetings built trust among leaders.

Its weakness was doing too little. A 1981 CIA report said ASEAN's political successes rested on a weak base. Needing everyone to agree kept members united, but often meant nothing was done. Economic plans achieved little, because each state put its own interests first.

ASEAN also depended on outside powers. Members rejected a shared defence pact. They relied on the USA and others for security, while trying not to look too close to any superpower.

ASEAN Way
Consensus, quiet diplomacy, non-interference.
No intra-ASEAN wars
A key achievement during the Cold War.
Security
Members relied on outside powers, especially the USA.

Real examples to use

No war between members

Despite quarrels over Sabah, Cambodia policy and borders, no two ASEAN members fought a war with each other from 1967 to 1991.

Consensus over Cambodia

Thailand and Singapore wanted to isolate Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia feared China more (Kuantan, 1980), yet ASEAN kept one public position at the UN every year.

Limits of the PTA

The 1977 trade deal achieved little because each member protected its own industries, showing how consensus could mean inaction.

Worked example: A balanced judgement on ASEAN

How successful was ASEAN in building regional stability?

  1. Stability: no wars between members; disputes contained.
  2. Diplomacy: effective as a bloc on Cambodia.
  3. Limits: weak economic integration before 1992; reliance on outside powers.
  4. Judgement: successful in preventing conflict, limited in deeper integration.

Watch out for this

ASEAN's non-interference meant it did nothing.

Non-interference limited action inside members, but ASEAN acted effectively as a diplomatic bloc, as over Cambodia.

Check your understanding

What did a 1981 CIA assessment see as a weakness of ASEAN?

  1. ASEAN had grown too large to agree on policy.
  2. ASEAN was too ready to use force against its neighbours.
  3. Consensus decision-making led to inaction, especially in economics.
Show the answer

Consensus decision-making led to inaction, especially in economics.

Right. Unity came at a cost.

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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