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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic union which includes 10 Southeast Asian states: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia and Myanmar. This group is also referred to as a bloc, which is an alliance of countries with politically and economically aligned goals. As a bloc of developing countries, ASEAN is seen as a global representative and spokesperson in international politics for the Southeast Asian region.
ASEAN was founded in 1967, and its first five members were Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The group was created through the signing of the ASEAN Declaration. The bloc’s original motivation was to maintain democracy in the region; the founding free market member states felt threatened by the communist presence in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and felt the need to create a united front. Deng Xiaopeng’s political ascent in 1978 largely reduced the threat of communism spreading in the region, and allowed the union to turn its attention to other political and economic objectives. The bloc gives members more say in international geopolitics by creating a unified voice for the region. Shortly after, in 1976, the first summit meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia, which resulted in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia being signed, establishing peace in the region, and agreement on several industrial projects. In 1995, the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty was also signed, prohibiting any nuclear weapons from being used in the region.
As a representative agency for rapidly developing countries and as a partner to multiple international institutions such as the UN, ASEAN is important as a platform for arranging trade deals for the states in the bloc, both internally and externally. Internally, ASEAN has made significant progress towards greater regional integration, with the 1992 Asian Free Trade Agreement establishing a free trade area in the region by eliminating barriers to trade, which provides a competitive edge to the region as a global base of production. Externally, one of ASEAN’s most significant accomplishments has been its involvement in the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2020. The RCEP is a free trade agreement between the ASEAN members and 5 other dialogue partners (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand) that reduces barriers to trade between the countries and covers 30% of the world’s population, making it one of the world’s largest free trade zones.
One of the major sources of dispute within this bloc, is the military coup that occurred in Myanmar in 2021. The democratically elected ruling party (the National League for Democracy) was overthrown by Myanmar’s military, who installed a military junta that established martial law. The coup and unrest within the country have also exacerbated the Rohingya crisis, an ongoing conflict between the Rohingya Muslim minority and Myanmar’s security forces that has seen a large movement of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, and accusations of genocide by organisations like Human Rights Watch directed at Myanmar’s military. Because Myanmar is still a member of ASEAN, the bloc has been criticised for not having condemned Myanmar’s actions towards the Rohingyas strongly enough, and not taking action. This starkly contrasts other regional organisations; the African Union, who for example, has a policy of suspending members who participate in coups, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Another significant failure of the organisation has been in the negotiation of a binding code of conduct for the South China Sea, where attempts to get China to place limits on its conduct in the area have consistently failed.
To conclude, ASEAN is a well-established institution representing Southeast Asian countries on the global political stage. The organisation is important because it provides representation for Asian and developing perspectives in international relations, which are growing in economic importance and tend to be eclipsed by Western developed countries. In the future, the organisation will likely be looked upon more when it comes to trade, development and regional security, as Southeast Asia continues its rapid economic growth. Nevertheless, the organisation faces significant challenges in the form of regulating member-state conduct and Chinese aggression.
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