Political Science · Ch 2 — Contemporary Centres of Power
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born out of a difficult history. Before and during the Second World War, Southeast Asia suffered under both European and Japanese colonialism. After the war ended, the newly independent countries faced three crushing problems: the challenge of building stable nations, deep poverty and economic backwardness, and intense pressure from the Cold War superpowers to pick a side. This combination was a recipe for conflict that the region could not afford.
Earlier efforts at Asian and Third World unity — the Bandung Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement — had not succeeded in creating the kind of informal cooperation these countries needed. So the countries of Southeast Asia created their own alternative.
ASEAN was established in 1967 by five founding members — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand — who signed the Bangkok Declaration. Its primary objective was to accelerate economic growth, and through that, achieve social progress and cultural development. A secondary objective was to promote regional peace and stability, based on the rule of law and the principles of the UN Charter.
Over time, five more countries joined, bringing ASEAN's strength to ten members: Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma), and Cambodia.
Unlike the European Union, ASEAN has little desire for supranational structures. Its member states value national sovereignty above all else.
This preference is captured in what is known as the 'ASEAN Way' — a style of interaction that is informal, non-confrontationist, and cooperative. Respect for national sovereignty is critical to how ASEAN functions.
Broadening Objectives: The ASEAN Community
With some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, ASEAN broadened its objectives beyond economics and social welfare. In 2003, it agreed to establish an ASEAN Community built on three pillars:
- ASEAN Security Community — based on the conviction that territorial disputes should not escalate into armed confrontation. By 2003, member states had several agreements to uphold peace, neutrality, cooperation, non-interference, and respect for national differences and sovereign rights.
- ASEAN Economic Community — aims to create a common market and production base within ASEAN states, aid social and economic development, and improve the existing ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanism to resolve economic disputes.
- ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), established in 1994, is the organisation that coordinates security and foreign policy.
Economic Strength and Influence
ASEAN was and still remains principally an economic association. While its overall economy is much smaller than that of the US, the EU, or Japan, it is growing much faster than all of them. This rapid growth accounts for its increasing influence both within the region and beyond.
ASEAN has focused on creating a Free Trade Area (FTA) for investment, labour, and services. Both the US and China have moved quickly to negotiate FTAs with ASEAN.
ASEAN's Vision 2020 defines an outward-looking role for the organisation in the international community. It builds on the existing policy of encouraging negotiation over conflicts.
ASEAN has already mediated the end of the Cambodian conflict and the East Timor crisis, and meets annually to discuss East Asian cooperation.
India and ASEAN …
The political cartoon in this section is a visual commentary on India's shifting engagement with East and Southeast Asia. It is divided into two panels, contrasting the past with the present.
In the first panel, labelled "India's Look East Policy (1991)", a small, hesitant figure representing India stands on the western edge of a map of Asia. The figure is peering cautiously eastward, with a tiny pair of binoculars raised to its eyes. The map shows the countries of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.), China, Japan, and South Korea as distant, hazy outlines. A dotted, tentative arrow stretches from India toward these nations, but it is faint and broken, suggesting limited, exploratory engagement. The overall mood is one of uncertainty and minimal commitment. …
The figure shows a simple map of India and the East Asian region, with India placed at the centre. From India, a large arrow labelled "Look East Policy (1991)" points eastward toward the ASEAN countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia — as well as toward China, Japan, and South Korea. A second, shorter arrow labelled "Act East Policy (2014)" extends further beyond the first arrow, indicating a more proactive phase of engagement.
The ASEAN logo appears in the corner of the figure: ten stalks of paddy (rice) bound together, representing the ten member states united in cooperation. The map itself is not detailed — it is a schematic outline, not a political map with borders or cities. No specific sites, dates, or artefacts are shown beyond the policy labels and the logo.
What this figure teaches is the evolution of India’s approach to East and Southeast Asia. The Look East Policy, launched in the early 1990s after the Cold War, marked India’s deliberate shift from a largely inward-looking foreign policy to one that sought economic and strategic ties with the dynamic economies of ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea. The Act East Policy, announced in 2014, signals a more assertive, action-oriented phase — moving beyond trade and investment to include security cooperation, infrastructure connectivity, and deeper diplomatic engagement. The arrow’s extension visually captures this intensification: from “looking” to “acting.” …
The figure is a map of Asia, centred on India and extending eastward to include China, Japan, South Korea, and the ten member states of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia). India is highlighted prominently in the centre-left of the map. From India, two sets of arrows or directional lines extend eastward. One set is labelled “Look East Policy (early 1990s)” and the other “Act East Policy (since 2014)”. These arrows point towards the ASEAN region, China, Japan, and South Korea, indicating the direction of India’s growing diplomatic and economic engagement.
The map’s key message is that India’s foreign policy shift in the early 1990s—the Look East Policy—initiated closer ties with East and Southeast Asia, and that this was intensified and renamed the Act East Policy in 2014. The arrows visually represent the flow of economic interaction: trade, investment, and strategic partnerships. The figure does not show specific cities, ports, or trade routes; it is a conceptual map showing the broad geographical scope of India’s outreach. The labels “ASEAN”, “China”, “Japan”, and “South Korea” are placed in their respective locations on the map, making clear which countries are the targets of these policies. …