Analysis of the background of the establishment of ASEAN in the 1960s and 1970s

I hope the following answers will be helpful to you. During the Cold War, Southeast Asia was divided into a "six, three, one" pattern due to the bipolar struggle for hegemony. "Six" refers to the six countries that make up ASEAN, "three" refers to the three Indo-China countries, and "one" refers to Myanmar, which is its own country. The end of the Cold War created conditions for ASEAN to unify the entire Southeast Asia region. In May 1994, the 10 Southeast Asian countries gathered together for the first time in history and held a meeting in Manila to discuss the establishment of a "Greater ASEAN" of 10 Southeast Asian countries. The "Southeast Asia after 2000 - Statement on an Idea" issued at the conference stated, "We believe that Southeast Asia should become a global community. This global community should become an important player on the world stage in the 21st century. Political, economic, cultural and spiritual entities. "Non-ASEAN countries in Southeast Asia accelerated their pace of joining ASEAN after the meeting. In July 1995, Vietnam became the seventh member of ASEAN. Two years later, Laos and Myanmar joined ASEAN at the same time. ASEAN originally planned to complete the expansion of the organization on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, but due to the emergence of domestic problems in Cambodia, this idea could not be realized as scheduled. It was not until Cambodia officially joined at the end of April 1999 that ASEAN covered the entire Southeast Asia, gathering all Southeast Asian countries under its leadership and forming an independent and complete regional system. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN, ASEAN is already a developing country regional organization with a population of 502 million and a GDP of US$800 billion②. It has considerable strength and influence in the region and even the world. This is an important milestone in the development of regionalism in Southeast Asia. ASEAN transcends similarities and differences in social systems and ideologies and prioritizes common interests in the region, thus laying a solid foundation for lasting peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia. . (2) Establishing a long-term development goal—ASEAN Community. After entering the 21st century, ASEAN has accelerated the pace of regional integration. The Ninth ASEAN Summit adopted the Declaration of the Second ASEAN Agreement (also known as the "Bali Second Agreement"), announcing that in 2020, it will establish an economic community, a security community and a socio-cultural community. The ASEAN community is supported by the three pillars of community. The ASEAN Summit held in Cebu in January 2007 decided to advance the establishment of the ASEAN Community to 2015. When the Bali First Agreement was adopted in 1976, ASEAN was not yet full-fledged, but its goals were stated in the agreement, which is peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Nearly 30 years later, ASEAN has proposed the same goal, but the way to achieve it has undergone substantial changes. This is the "One Community" that has been avoided or even considered taboo in the past. It is clearly written into the Declaration of the Second ASEAN Agreement. This is a major progress for ASEAN and a wise response to the development of globalization and changes in the regional situation. It shows that ASEAN hopes to enhance its own momentum, upgrade its development level, and "further consolidate and enhance ASEAN as a dynamic, resilient and cohesive regional organization." ③. What is particularly striking is that, due to its sensitivity to sovereignty issues, ASEAN has rarely touched on security topics in the past. The Declaration of the Second ASEAN Agreement proposed the establishment of the ASEAN Security Community, which is a major progress made by ASEAN in the field of security cooperation. The establishment of a security community can not only jointly respond to various security challenges with collective strength, but more importantly, it can form stronger cohesion within ASEAN. (3) Establishing its dominant position in East Asia cooperation. When the Asian financial crisis broke out in 1997, ASEAN saw the limitations of its own strength and realized that it must combine its own development with the development of East Asia.*** to cope with various crises and challenges that may arise at present and in the future. After 10 years of hard work, an East Asian cooperation process with ASEAN as the core has now been formed. This cooperation process mainly consists of three parts: ASEAN, "13" and "11". As mentioned above, in order to strengthen its own construction, ASEAN announced that it will establish an ASEAN international community supported by the three pillars of economic community, security community and socio-cultural community. On the other hand, ASEAN initiated the "10 + 3" and plays a leading role within this framework. ASEAN’s unity is crucial to the “10 + 3” because it provides a strong basis for concentrating resources and energy to deal with the common issues facing East Asia; the “ASEAN way” is the “10 + 3” It provides principles, including reaching consensus through consultation, on which the "10 + 3" can operate in a way that is beneficial to all parties involved, thus becoming the main channel for East Asian cooperation. The "10 + 1" is the foundation of East Asia cooperation and is directly related to the "10 + 3" and even the construction of the East Asian community. China, Japan, South Korea and India are all important countries in Asia. Their cooperation and development with ASEAN have a profound impact not only on East Asian cooperation, but also on Asian regional cooperation. Whether it is "10 + 3", "10 + 1", or the East Asia Summit, which has only been held twice so far, ASEAN has played a leading role in it, and ASEAN is the "driver" of the East Asia cooperation process. This enables ASEAN to enjoy the advantage of determining the agenda in every cooperation mechanism, thereby conducive to the development of ASEAN integration.

The main measures taken by ASEAN to respond to challenges The year 1997 was a watershed in the history of ASEAN's development. Just as ASEAN was preparing to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Asian financial crisis broke out. This crisis and the subsequent series of events, such as air pollution, terrorist attacks, SARS, avian influenza, etc., are unprecedented in their nature, scope and impact; at the same time, there are also some new changes in the international situation, especially It is globalization that is developing rapidly, and countries are increasingly interdependent. Facing severe challenges, ASEAN is clearly aware that "many of the old principles that were effective in ASEAN in the past are no longer sufficient."6?8?6?8 Such as financial crisis, drug smuggling, environment Hazards, immigration issues, transnational crimes, etc. are all regional problems. They require regional cooperation and solutions. "④ Therefore, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the organization, we look forward to the future. For development, ASEAN believes that efforts need to be made in five aspects. The first is to narrow the gap between old and new members and realize ASEAN integration as soon as possible. The second is to strengthen regional identity and enhance ASEAN's internal cohesion. The third is to improve work efficiency and improve ASEAN's organizational and operating mechanisms. The fourth is to maintain ASEAN's core position in East Asia cooperation and promote the construction of a multilateral community in East Asia. The fifth is to enhance economic competitiveness and respond to the challenges of globalization⑤. ASEAN has taken the following main measures to this end: First, implement the "Initiative for ASEAN Integration". The economic development level of the 10 ASEAN countries is very different. Taking the per capita GDP in 2004 as an example: Singapore is 25,207 US dollars, Brunei is 13,879 US dollars, Malaysia is 4,625 US dollars, Thailand is 2,537 US dollars, Indonesia is 1,193 US dollars, the Philippines is 1,042 US dollars, Vietnam is 554 US dollars, and Laos is 423 US dollars. US dollars, Cambodian US$358, Myanmar US$166⑥. The purpose of the "ASEAN Integration Initiative" is to help new member states develop their economies, achieve ASEAN economic integration as soon as possible, and change the current situation of extremely uneven internal development. Second, formulate the ASEAN Charter. When ASEAN was founded, it only issued the Bangkok Declaration and has no other laws and regulations so far. Therefore, ASEAN formed an expert group to discuss and draft the ASEAN Charter, and plans to adopt and implement it on the 40th anniversary of ASEAN's founding. The main purposes of ASEAN's charter are: to strengthen the institutional construction of ASEAN and make ASEAN's behavior more standardized and efficient; to reduce tariff barriers, integrate regional economies, eliminate unbalanced development, and promote economic integration; to win public support for ASEAN from ASEAN member states. further support the cause, strengthen mutual contact and understanding, increase regional identity, and form ASEAN consensus; better serve regional cooperation structures, such as "11", "13", ASEAN Regional Forum, The East Asia Summit, etc., have made ASEAN the center of the East Asian regional cooperation architecture; further improved ASEAN's international status and enabled ASEAN to play a more important role and play a greater role on the world stage. The formulation of the ASEAN Charter will be an epoch-making event in the history of ASEAN and will elevate ASEAN's development to a new level.