What is ASEAN? In this article you will find information about the goals of creation, the history of the international organization, as well as about its member countries. What is the impact of ASEAN on world politics? How deep is the association's partnership with Russia?
ASEAN is…
Association of SouthEast Asian Nations is the name of this intergovernmental organization. Literally, it can be translated as follows: "Association of Nations of Southeast Asia." Thus, if you add the first letters of all the words in this name, you can get the abbreviation ASEAN. This abbreviation has been fixed as a designation of the structure.
The organization emerged on the political map of Asia in 1967. The area of the association is quite large: 4.5 million square kilometers, the total population is almost 600 million people.
ASEAN is an international organization within which cooperation takes place in three areas: economic, political, and cultural. It should be noted that the association is often criticized (mainly by Western leaders) for being too softregarding human rights and freedoms. With regard to ASEAN, Western media often use the rhetoric of "a lot of words, but little sense."
History of the creation of the organization
In the 60s, an important event took place on the world political arena - the collapse of the colonial system. Many countries in Africa and Asia are gaining independence. Under these conditions, the leaders of the young and sovereign states of Southeast Asia feared that powerful neighboring powers would begin to interfere in their internal affairs. Thus, the main goal of creating ASEAN (as well as its key concept) is to ensure neutrality and prevent any possible interstate conflicts in the region.
The official creation date of the organization is August 8, 1967. The "fathers" of ASEAN are the foreign ministers of five countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore). A little later, five more members joined the association.
Goals and objectives at the present stage
The main goals of ASEAN include the following:
- Ensuring stability and peace in the region (in line with UN principles);
- establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial cooperation with other world formations;
- stimulating the socio-economic and cultural development of participating countries.
The main document of the organization is the ASEAN charter, which, in fact, can be considered its constitution. It approved the fundamental principles of the association's activities. Among them:
- Respect and observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries-members of the organization.
- Peaceful and constructive resolution of all disputes and conflicts.
- Respect for human rights.
- Development of regional integration in trade.
ASEAN members devote a lot of time and energy to issues of military-political stability in their region. So, in the late 1990s, they adopted an agreement that prohibits nuclear weapons in the countries of Southeast Asia.
ASEAN countries are also actively cooperating in the field of sports. With an interval of two years, the so-called South Asian Games (a kind of analogue of the Olympic Games) are held in the region. Association members also plan to submit a joint bid for the right to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
ASEAN countries: list of participants
The scale of this international organization is regional and covers ten states of Southeast Asia.
Let's list all the ASEAN countries. The list is:
- Indonesia.
- Malaysia.
- Philippines.
- Thailand.
- Singapore.
- Cambodia.
- Vietnam.
- Laos.
- Myanmar.
- Brunei.
The first five states on the list are the founders of the organization, the rest joined later.
ASEAN headquarters is located in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
Structure of the organization and features of its work
The highest body of the structure is the "summit of leaders", amongwhich includes the heads of state, as well as the governments of the participating countries. The ASEAN summit usually lasts three days.
The Association works actively and fruitfully. Every year, ASEAN countries hold at least three hundred different meetings and events. On a permanent basis, the work of the organization is managed by a secretariat headed by the Secretary General. Each year, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is led by a new secretary from the next ASEAN country (in alphabetical order).
As part of preventive diplomacy, the ASEAN Regional Forum was created in 1994.
Emblem and flag
The organization has its official symbols. This is the emblem, flag and motto.
The motto of the association is: One Vision. One Identity. One Community, which can be translated as "One look, one essence, one society".
The main emblem of the organization is a red circle with ten stalks of rice tied together (the main plant symbol of the Southeast Asian region). Obviously, the rice stalks represent the unity of the ten ASEAN countries. In May 1997, the flag of the organization was approved. The emblem described above was placed on a rectangular blue panel in standard sizes.
ASEAN Free Trade Area
The creation of a free trade zone that promotes the unhindered movement of goods within the ASEAN member countries is one of the main achievements of the described organization. The corresponding agreement was signed in the winter of 1992 in Singapore.
In 2007, ASEAN first announcedplans to conclude similar agreements with Japan, China, South Korea and some other states as part of the creation of the ASEAN economic community. A free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand was signed as early as February 2009. Three years ago, in 2013, the first talks were held in Indonesia, where the prospect of creating a "Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership" was discussed.
Further prospects for expansion of the organization
Today, ASEAN has 10 members. Two more states (Papua New Guinea and East Timor) have the status of observers in the organization.
As far back as the 1990s, members of the association tried to involve Japan, South Korea, and China in ASEAN integration. However, these plans failed largely due to the active intervention of the United States. Nevertheless, further integration processes in the region still continued. In 1997, a block of countries was formed in the ASEAN plus three format. After that, a major summit was held, in which not only the three above-mentioned states were involved, but also Australia, New Zealand and India.
In the spring of 2011, the authorities of East Timor announced their intention to join the group of ASEAN member countries. The corresponding statement was made at the organization's summit in Jakarta. Indonesia then very warmly welcomed the official delegation of East Timor.
Papua New Guinea is called another promising member of ASEAN. Since 1981, this state has had the statusobserver in the association. Despite being a country from Melanesia, it works closely with the organization in the economic field.
International partnership in the "ASEAN - Russia" system
The Russian Federation began to establish a dialogue with the organization in question back in 1996. During this time, several declarations of partnership have been signed.
Dialogue between Russia and ASEAN deepened further after the signing of the first Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (the so-called Bali Treaty of 1976) in November 2004. A year later, Malaysia hosted the Russia-ASEAN summit, in which Vladimir Putin took part. The next such meeting was held in 2010 in Hanoi. In addition, the Russian Foreign Minister regularly participates in conferences and meetings of the Association in the "ASEAN +1" and "ASEAN +10" formats.
Russia has close historical ties with a number of member countries of this organization. For example, with Vietnam (in the field of gas production and nuclear energy). According to some experts, relations between Hanoi and Moscow are in no way inferior in importance to Russian-Chinese relations. That is why further deepening of cooperation with ASEAN is a priority for Russia's foreign policy.
In 2016, the Russian Federation and the organization will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the partnership. The coming year has already been declared in the states of the Association as the Year of Russian Culture.
In conclusion…
ASEAN isan international organization whose members cooperate in many areas. The association arose after the collapse of the world colonial system.
Today, the ASEAN countries are ten independent states in Southeast Asia. Their cooperation contributed to the solution of a large number of contentious issues in various fields.
