History

GENERAL HISTORY

The 8th of August of 1967 the Foreign Ministers of of Indonesia (Adam Malik), Malaysia (Abdul Razak), the Philippines (Narciso R. Ramos), Singapore (S. Rajaratnam) and Thailand (Thanat Khoman); signed the document that would be known as the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Declaration, also known as the Bangkok Declaration for being in this city where it was signed.

This Declaration consisted on just five articles declaring the establishment and spelling out the aims and purposes of the Association: accelerating economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and to promote peace and security in Southeast Asia through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. Apart from this it included cooperation in technical, educational and other fields.

Although the declaration stipulated that it would be open for participation by all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing its aims, principles and purposes; former Burma declined to participate as well as Laos and Cambodia due to military aggression in indo-china. In 1984, Brunei joined after its independence from the United Kingdom and the group started to be called ASEAN-6. The so called CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), ended up joining later: Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.

Before ASEAN it existed the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), formed by the former Federation of Malaya, Thailand and the Philippines. However, the history of ASA is pretty short as it only lasted for two years: from July 1961 to 1963.

But, why did they create it at that moment? At that moment Thailand was acting as a mediator between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia over territorial disputes. It was then proposed the formation of an association as a way of becoming stronger as a region. Although Singapore was not invited at the beginning, its proposition to joining in was gladly accepted.

In the process of the formation of the ASEAN, what later would be called “sport.shirt diplomacy” played an important role. All the representatives of the five countries got together at a beach resort and spent the time playing golf, so by the end of the week, when it was time to reach a deal, agreements between the parts had already been made. This kind of diplomacy ended up becoming a custom and a trademark of the ASEAN.

The formation of the ASEAN did not mean the end of the disputes between its participants, as soon after the signing of the Bangkok Declaration, the Philippines and Malaysia fell on the issue of the sovereignty over Sabah . In mid-1970s, the association achieved a new cohesion after the ending of the Vietnam War and the subsequent changed balance of power in Southeast Asia. During the seventies this regione experienced an economic growth that strengthened the organization making it capable of adopting an unified response to Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1979.

The end of the Cold War had huge repercussions as it allowed its members to exercise greater political independence and power in the region: adopting a declaring to resolve disputes in the South China Sea, promoting dialogue on regional security by establishing the ASEAN Regional Forum and working to resolve the conflict in East Timor.

Over the years, the Association has entered into several formal and legally-binding instruments: 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, 1995 Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, ASEAN Free Trade Area and the ASEAN Economic Community between others.

The spirit pursue by the ASEAN has functioned as an example in the broader Asia Pacific region where several other intergovernmental organizations now co-exist.

ASEAN FOUNDERS, WHO ARE THEY?

Narciso Ramos:

Narciso Rueca Ramos (1900-1986), used to be a journalist and was one of his country’s first diplomats. His only son, Fidel V. Ramos, would end up becoming the 8th president of the Philippines.

Adam Malik:

Adam Malik Batubara (1917-1984), was a pioneer in Indonesian journalism and an important figure in Indonesian independence.

He spent ten years as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was the 26th President of the United Nations General Assembly and 3rd vice-president of Indonesia.

Tun Abdul Razak:

Tun Abdul Razak (1922-1976) was the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia and his eldest son, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, would later become Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister. At the time of the signing of the ASEAN Declaration he was concurrently his country’s Minister of Defence and Minister of National Development. As Minister of Defence he was in charge of his country’s foreign affairs.

S. Rajaratnam:

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (1915-2006), was Minister of Culture, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore. He was one of the pioneer leaders of independent Singapore.

Thanat Khoman:

Thanat Khoman (1914-2016). Apart from being Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1959 to 1971, he was for two years Deputy Prime Minister of his country.

OBJECTIVES OF ASEAN (Chirathivat et al. 1999)

-To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region,  

-To protect mutual interest and creating regional solidarity as well as to promote regional peace and stability,

-To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields,  

-To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres,

- To promote a more effective cooperation in the industrial and agriculture field, expand trade, increase transportation and relationship development as well as the living standard of the member countries and  

-To strengthen present regional ties i.e. ASEAN should maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes and explore all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves.

PRINCIPLES OF ASEAN (ARTICLE-2)  

-Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations,  

-The right of every country to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion,  

-Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another,  

-Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner,  

-Renunciation of the threat or use of force in resolving disputes and

-Effective cooperation among themselves

FROM ASA TO ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) was an association formed by the former Federation of Malaya, the Philippines and Thailand; however, this association did not last for long. But… Why?

Many factors played an important role on the dissolution of this association but we should pay special attention to the role that China and U.S. played in its dissolution. The document signed by the founding members reflected and awareness that close association with U.S.foreign policy, especially on anti-Communism and China, would undermine any chance left for ASA’s expansion into a larger, more genuinely regional grouping. However, the close relation of these countries with the Western world was really tangible. This situation created an increased politicization in a supposedly non-political association, which resulted in no-more countries wanting to join in. To all of this we have to add the territorial disputes that started to appear in 1963 within the members of the association.

SOUTHEAST ASIA: COLONIALISM AND COLD WAR.

Southeast Asia’s relations with colonialism dates back to the 15th century and still have a lot of influence in the region.

Although the different countries achieved their independence from Western powers through the second half of the 20th century, this independence was not that real as these countries continued to have a lot of influence and with the Cold War the United States increased its influence in the region with the excuse of stopping communism.

It must be pointed out that until no long ago many of these countries were at war, civil or with other countries in the region, with the support of the United States. This has created what we know by the name of neocolonialism, this is, a kind of colonialism not based on the military power over a region but a ideological dependency.

With the end of the Cold War the ASEAN gained greater political power and independence. emerging as a important voice in the area. However, the influence of the Western, especially of the U.S., can be seen just by taking a brief look at the relations and treaties between this Association and the rest of the world.

ASEAN logo

The first logo of the ASEAN consisted on five brown sheaves of rice stalks in representation of each founding member. Below the sheaves it is the word “ASEAN” in blue. These are set on a field of yellow encircled by a blue border. Each colour has its own meaning: brown stands for strength and stability, yellow for prosperity and blu for the spirit of cordiability. By the 30th

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

Southeast Asia and the ASEAN are growing fast and increasing its power. Many of the countries in the region are becoming important players on the economic global arena thanks in part to the fact that they are a source of raw materials. This path seems to be continuing for the future especially after the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community.