ASEAN was formed in 1967 with the first five countries being; Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand with other countries being added to the treaty later on; these countries being; Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia. This made the parliament 10 countries strong and their goal was to promote political and economic cooperation and stability. However, even with the cooperation that the members of ASEAN are trying to promote, there are still problems faced by the group. Some being security issues such as that of China and members of ASEAN trying to claim Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea; Human rights concerns, and trade barriers.
My Thoughts:
Even though ASEAN is trying to improve the cooperation between the members of ASEAN, the problems they face seem very difficult for them to face on their own. For one, these countries are either some of the more corrupt, less economically developed, or smaller countries. This would lead to problems such as not having enough funds for improvement or cooperation inside their own country. A great example of this is the Scarborough Shoal dispute. China is one country versus the whole of ASEAN but because of China's bigger economy, they are a bigger threat to all 10 countries of ASEAN than them combined against China. This really shows that these countries may need to form an alliance with another, bigger country such as that of the United States. As of 2012, the US may have been the fifth largest trading partner with ASEAN but they the US is not part of ASEAN which means they do not have an obligation to deal with the problems that the countries of ASEAN face unless it will give them their own personal benefits. I believe that if the ASEAN countries make the proper offer to the United States, they will be able to allie with them because the US will also be able to benefit from the offer that ASEAN would have to give. So in conclusion, I believe that ASEAN is composed of too many small, less economically developed countries to contend with bigger more powerful countries in order to make their own personal gain.
Link:
http://www.cfr.org/asia-and-pacific/asean-association-southeast-asian-nations/p18616
Hey Andres! You have a really nice blog post, however I do agree that a country as big as China, but because of it's size and economy, it does have a lot of power. However, I'm not sure if China and the United States should have an alliance due to political problems between the two countries. Although, I do agree with your points where you talked about how ASEAN will face problems due to the countries being too small, corrupt, or less economically developed. Good post!
ReplyDeleteAndres, I wonder if through ASEAN, the Philippines can resolve the Scarborough Shoal dispute without having to call on the United States for help. I mean, thats what they're trying to do right now. Is it possible that they could succeed? And if so, what implications does that have for the rest of the disputes between China and its neighbors?
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