Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN logo

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)— with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand as original members—was established on August 8, 1967. As outlined in the Bangkok declaration of ASEAN, it was formed to strive for the peace and prosperity of the region.

An important regional organization, ASEAN, whose member countries have a population of more than 500 million, strove for regional cooperation to benefit its member countries. It encompassed the rest of the countries of Southeast Asia over time with the admission of Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999). The Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of State and Government is the top decision-making body of the ASEAN.

Every year, ASEAN Summit and ASEAN Ministerial meetings are held. The term of the secretary-general is five years, and he advises on and implements various ASEAN programs. The cooperation of member countries is through specialized bodies pertaining to education, energy, police, meteorology, and other areas.

Against the changing backdrop of the geopolitical situation, the ASEAN countries saw the necessity of regional cooperation on matters of common interest. The ASEAN was established during the Vietnam War, and the member countries were bound together by fear of North Vietnam and China.


The victory of communists in Indochina in the early 1970s and diminishing American involvement made the ASEAN states fearful of communism. The Kuala Lumpur declaration of November 22, 1971, called for the creation of a Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) in Southeast Asia aimed at neutralization of the region.

The triumph of communism in the three Indochinese states of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in 1975 spurred the ASEAN into action. Fearful of a militant and expanding communism, the ASEAN countries signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation at the First ASEAN Summit held at Bali, Indonesia, on February 24, 1976.

It called for renunciation of the use of force, cooperation among the nations in Southeast Asia, and noninterference in one another’s internal affairs. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, ASEAN moved in a new direction to meet with the challenges of globalization. The three Indochinese states became members.

ASEAN map

From the early 1990s ASEAN looked for increasing economic cooperation among member countries. At the Fourth ASEAN Summit held in Singapore in January 1992 an agreement was signed for the creation of an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) within 15 years. The 1995 Bangkok Summit passed a resolution on the Agenda for Greater Economic Integration.

The time frame of AFTA was reduced to 10 years. The ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted in 1997, envisaged an ASEAN Economic Region. There would be closer economic integration along with reduction of poverty and removal of economic disparities. The Framework Agreement for the Integration of Priority Sectors and its Protocols of 1999 called for the creation of a single market and production base.

In 1994 the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was established with non-ASEAN countries like the United States, Russia, China, India, and others to discuss security issues and take steps in confidence building. There was an agenda for an enhanced role of the ARF in matters of security dialogue and cooperation.


Meetings on this topic were held in the Cambodian capital and in Potsdam, Germany, in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The December 2005 ASEAN Summit, held in Kuala Lumpur, noted with satisfaction progress toward a Free Trade Area, with such countries as Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, India, and the Republic of Korea.

ASEAN cooperates with the East Asian nations of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, which were accorded the special status of ASEAN Plus Three. They expected to have a free-trade agreement by the year 2010. India enjoys a special standing with ASEAN. An ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace and Progress was signed at the Third ASEAN-India Summit in November 2004.

The ASEAN and its member countries have taken steps, through treaties, conventions, and communiqués, to prevent different types of organized crime with regional and international dimensions, such as terrorism, terrorist financing, money laundering, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.

On February 24, 1976, the ASEAN countries declared that they would cooperate with one another and with international organizations to check illegal trafficking of drugs. The ASEAN Vision 2020 resolved to tackle the problems of drug trafficking, trafficking of women, and other transnational crimes.

Through organizations like the ARF, Ministerial Meetings, the ASEAN Chiefs of Police (ASEANAPOL), the ASEAN Centre for Combating Transnational Crime (ACTC), the Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC), steps were taken to prevent various forms of crimes affecting Southeast Asia in particular and the world in general. The Vientiane Action Program of November 2004 contained measures to tackle the problem of terrorism.

Pathet Lao

The term Pathet Lao (land of Lao) is generally used to describe the communist movement of Laos that began in 1945 and continued until 1975, when Laos became communist. It was one of three groups active in the politics of Laos, the other two being the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and the neutralists.

Laos became a French protectorate in 1893. During World War II, the Japanese took control of Laos and declared it independent from French colonial rule on March 9, 1945. After Japan’s surrender, an independent Lao Issara (Free Laos) government was proclaimed on September 1, joined by the Pathet Lao, with its strong nationalist leanings.

There was a Lao committee section in the Indochinese Communist Party, and the separate existence of the Lao communist movement was established in 1945. The leader of the Pathet Lao, Prince Souphanuvong, had met the Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh in 1945 and gained control of central Laos with the help of Vietnamese troops.


The prince had nurtured the communist movement and was prepared to fight against the French, who had seized the capital city, Vientiane, in 1946. Laos was soon engulfed in the First Indochina War, and the Pathet Lao fought along with the Vietminh and the Khmer Rouge. The granting of limited independence on July 19, 1949, by the French was not accepted by the communists.

However, Souvanna Phouma joined the new French-sponsored government in February 1950, where Souphanouvong proclaimed the parallel government of Pathet Lao along with its political organ, Neo Lao Issara (Lao Free Front).

The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, ended its colonial rule in Indochina. The Pathet Lao was recognized as a political party with control over Phong Saly and Sam Neua Provinces and began to consolidate its position.

In December 1959 the military-dominated government of Phoumi Nosavan arrested the Pathet Lao members of the National Assembly, although Souphanouvong escaped. Laos was plunged into civil war. North Vietnam supported the Pathet Lao by sending arms, ammunitions, and troops.

The U.S. government included Laos in its containment strategy defense against North Vietnam and China. Another attempt was made to bring peace to Laos with the Geneva Accords of 1962. But the attempt failed, and Laos was soon embroiled in the Vietnam War.

A three-pronged coalition between the Pathet Lao, the royal government, and the neutralists did not last long, and the United States and Hanoi stepped up economic and military assistance to their respective allies.

War in Laos became a sideshow in the Vietnam War, marked by heavy civilian death toll. The Pathet Lao military advance captured more territory and by 1972 controlled four-fifths of the land and half the population of Laos.

Finally, the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements on Vietnam in 1973 led to accelerated negotiations in Laos. An agreement on Restoring Peace and Achieving National Concord on Laos was signed in the same year. With the United States out of South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese conquered the south in 1975.

After the fall of South Vietnam, the Pathet Lao assumed effective control of Laos, and the coalition government in Laos was dissolved. On December 2, 1975, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) was formed with Souphanouvong as president.