World Affairs (WA): How and in what circumstances was ASEAN established? What, in your view, were the principal economic and political factors that led the five Southeast Asian nations to join hands in 1967? Rodolfo C Severino (RCS): ASEAN was established in 1967 by five countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. Except for [...]
Introduction ASEAN member countries have been fostering cooperation in combating transnational crime for more than two decades. Initially, ASEAN was concerned with the abuse of narcotics and trafficking in illegal drugs. However, with the expansion and diversification of transnational crime to include terrorism, arms smuggling, money laundering, illegal migration, and piracy, and the highly organised [...]
In their ASEAN Declaration signed in Bangkok on 8 August 1967, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand stated that "the Association represents the collective will of the nations of Southeast Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and [...]
The past year saw the ASEAN region experience its most serious economic downturn in the post-war era. What started out as a financial crisis in July 1997 quickly became an economic and social crisis. Regional exchange rates and stocks markets plunged. Gross domestic product fell for most ASEAN countries with only Singapore and the transition [...]
(This article appeared in Asian Media Report, January 1999) For several reasons, ASEAN as ASEAN has never received much press attention in most of the 31 years of its existence. But, in the good old days of rapid economic growth rates of 7-8 per cent a year and effective action on such high-profile issues as [...]