Road to Regionalism. The U.S. Involvement in Southeast Asia and the Origins of ASEAN, 1961-1967

This study examines the U.S. contribution to the creation of ASEAN, by analysing the origins – since the foundation of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) in July 1961 – and the ultimate evolution of Southeast Asian regionalism on 8 August 1967. Throughout the 1960s the United States was keen to promote an ʻindependent nations zoneʼ in Southeast Asia as a means of accelerating the economic co-operation and social progress. The Department of State believed regionalism embodied a necessary element of ʻcontainment doctrineʼ, that should have pursued two main objectives: first, to preserve and strengthen the will of the peoples of the area to resist Communist threat; second, to assist these governments in copying with the major problems of development. By and large, the crisis of SEATO -- just a part of wider co-operation policies in the area -- brought about a renewed involvement of the United States in Southeast Asia. This study concludes that United States has long worked actively to encourage regional cohesion among the nations of Southeast Asia and, albeit territorial disputes, Southeast Asian states were committed to establish a truly co-operative association that provided Asian solutions to Asian problems.