Challenges to the Formation of ASEAN Flashcards
Explain why although the priority of member states was to band together to stand up to communist influence and build collective clout against superpowers, the international context meant they were walking a political tightrope.
Challenge in not portraying ASEAN as hostile to communism lest they antagonise China and lose out on a major trading partner → harms to economic development
Additionally, they do not want ASEAN to be viewed as distancing from the West due to individual security and economic needs of nations
(SG and Malaysia relied on British bases; Thailand and Philippines relied on US Bases for military protection; SEA states still recipients of Western aid for ED)
Significance:
Discrepancy between OFFICIAL vs PRIVATE accounts of motivations for the formation of ASEAN → official accounts expected to be apolitical/economic centric compared to private accounts → highlight underlying political motivations
Politically correct and deliberately vague Bangkok Declaration which does not explicitly mention ASEAN’s anti-communist and military/security objectives
Only sources in later years will explicitly mention political and security motivations undergirding formation of ASEAN → no longer sensitive to reveal objectives
Explain why differing security interests of member states in the formation of ASEAN was a challenge.
Indonesia’s strong security motivation due to its anti-colonial and anti-imperialist stance → subscribed to the principle of self-reliance; did not desire nor have any military alliances with the West
It believed that SEA states should not rely on big powers for security needs → desired ASEAN to be an explicitly military organisation
1966 SEAARC Controversy → subsequent appeal to other countries to include a security clause against external powers → later removed as ASEAN leaders wished to avoid antagonising Western powers that bolstered them materially → clear that ASEAN Declaration was a purposefully vague official statement curated by ASEAN leaders to be apolitical and economic-centric
ASEAN Declaration was mere official speak which failed to reflect differing motivations of different member states
Other countries believed their own security was best safeguarded by defence arrangements with Western powers for some time to come
Hence sources with Indonesian perspective tend to be more antagonistic towards foreign powers compared to other states
