Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was founded on August 8, 1967, in the heat of the Vietnam War, when Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand each signed the Bangkok declaration, and came together to create peace and freedom in Southeast Asia. Since then, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia have joined the organization, also in the hopes of creating a better Asia.

The ASEAN flag

Since being formed, the main goal of ASEAN has been peace. Its members aim to create a Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality in the Southeastern Asian region, something that they highlighted in the Kuala Lumpur declaration of November 22, 1971. The ten member countries saw the importance of unity on matters of common interest, and strived to create that unity. One instance of this was in 1975 when communist leaders were voted into office in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. ASEAN, founded on anti-communist principles, signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation to further distance themselves from the three communist nations. However, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia were eventually emitted into ASEAN on the principles of globalization.

Over the years, ASEAN began to focus on relationships on a global scale as well as their internal goals. The ASEAN Regional Forum was established with the United States, Russia, China, India, and other non-ASEAN states in 1994 to improve foreign relations. Efforts have also been made to create a free trade area with Sustralia, China, Japan, New Zealand, India, and the Republic of Korea. China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea have also been given AEAN Plus Three status, and the ASEAN continues to have a peace partnership with India.

The member countries of ASEAN

Economic cooperation both within its member states and among its non-members is another goal of the ASEAN, one that came later into the organizations history. Through the ASEAN Free Trade Area, the Agenda for Greater Economic Integration, and the ASEAN Vision 2020, a region of thriving trade and economic activity was created. In recent years, members of the ASEAN has traded office machinery, electronics, petroleum, rubber, wood products and other natural resources to Japan, the United States, and Europe, and imports machinery, chemicals, oil, and food from Japan, the United States, Europe, and Saudi Arabia.