ASEAN: What it is, What it is not, What it can be

摘要

ASEAN has the potential of becoming an important economic and political entity in world affairs. Econometric forecasts indicate that ASEAN's free market economies are likely to achieve the highest rates of growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the 1980s. Its current diplomatic activities demonstrate ASEAN's capacity to act in unison in defense of regional stability in Southeast Asia, by firm opposition to the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. While credit for these achievements is due to each of the five governments participating in ASEAN, the fact that Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand were able to use a regional entity to promote their common interests is one of the positive international developments of recent years. The complexity and diversity of the region is discussed.