Asean at 40
Regional integration is never easy. National interest, often defined by the personal interests of national leaders, trumps regional needs. Local politics and power play can derail initiatives that will benefit the region. Some governments base policy-making on long-term considerations; others can’t afford to look beyond a year or two.Despite such complexities, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has managed to achieve significant progress in regional cooperation since it was created 40 years ago. The foreign ministers of the founding member countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — signed the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok on Aug. 8, 1967, creating a grouping that was meant to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.
From that original objective, ASEAN has expanded both its areas of cooperation and membership, taking in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. A larger membership is more unwieldy, especially in a grouping with a policy of non-intervention in each other’s internal affairs. This is evident in ASEAN’s efforts to set up a human rights body and include a provision in its proposed charter committing respect for human rights. Myanmar, whose repressive junta opted to have the country relinquish the revolving ASEAN chair rather than implement democratic reforms, is strongly opposing the regional initiative on human rights.
ASEAN has a population of about 600 million with a combined gross domestic product of $2.75 trillion. If the grouping can market itself as a unified economic bloc, ASEAN can wield more clout in international trade negotiations. But economic integration has also been slowed down by differences in quality standards and disagreements on product qualifications and tariff systems, among other things.
Other areas of cooperation, however, have been less contentious. Regional cooperation has worked well in efforts to fight terrorism and transnational crimes as well as prevent the spread of diseases such as bird flu. The region, which has not seen war since the end of the Vietnam War, understands the benefits of peace and prefers to settle territorial disputes through non-violent means. There is also general support for nuclear non-proliferation.
Life, it is said, begins at 40. More progress lies ahead for ASEAN as its 40th Ministerial Meeting opens today and regional cooperation becomes stronger.
