What is ASEAN? In this article you will find information about the goals of creation, the history of the international organization, as well as its member countries. What is the impact of ASEAN on world politics? How deep is the Associationās partnership with Russia?
ASEAN is ...
Association of SouthEast Asian Nations - this is the name of this intergovernmental organization. Literally, this can be translated as follows: "Association of Southeast Asian Nations." Thus, if you add the first letters of all the words in this name, you can get the ASEAN abbreviation. This reduction was fixed as a designation of the structure.
The organization arose on the political map of Asia in 1967. The area of āāthe association is quite large: 4.5 million square kilometers, the total population is almost 600 million people.
ASEAN is an international organization within the framework of which cooperation takes place in three areas: economic, political, as well as cultural. It is worth noting that the association is often criticized (mainly by Western leaders) for being too soft on human rights and freedoms. With regard to ASEAN, the Western media often use the rhetoric of "many words, but of little use."
Organization History
In the 60s, an important event took place on the world political scene - the collapse of the colonial system. Many countries in Africa and Asia are gaining independence. In these conditions, the leaders of the young and sovereign states of Southeast Asia were afraid that the neighboring powerful 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 date of creation of the organization is August 8, 1967. ASEAN's āfathersā are the foreign ministers of five countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore). A little later, another five 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 accordance with UN principles);
- establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial cooperation with other world formations;
- stimulation of socio-economic and cultural development of the 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. Among them:
- Respect and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the member countries of the organization.
- Peaceful and constructive solution to all controversial issues and conflicts.
- Respect for human rights.
- Development of regional integration in the field of trade.
ASEAN members devote much time and energy to issues of military-political stability in their region. So, in the late 1990s, they adopted a treaty that bans nuclear weapons in the countries of Southeast Asia.
ASEAN countries also actively cooperate in the field of sports. With an interval of two years in the region are the so-called South Asian Games (a kind of analogue of the Olympic Games). Members of the association also plan to file a general application for the right to host the World Cup in 2030.
ASEAN Countries: List of Participants
The scope of this international organization is regional and covers ten states of Southeast Asia.
We list all ASEAN countries. The list is as follows:
- 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 it later.
ASEAN Headquarters is located in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
Organization structure and features of its work
The highest organ of the structure is the āsummit of leadersā, which include heads of state as well as governments of participating countries. The ASEAN Summit, as a rule, lasts three days.
The association is active and fruitful. Each year, ASEAN countries hold at least three hundred different meetings and events. The organization is continuously led by a secretariat led by the Secretary General. Each year, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is led by a new secretary from another ASEAN country (in alphabetical order).
In the framework of preventive diplomacy in 1994, the creation of the Asean Regional Forum took place.
Emblem and flag
The organization has its own official symbols. This is an 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 organizationās main emblem is a red circle with ten connected rice stalks (the main plant symbol of the Southeast Asia region). Obviously, the rice stalks represent the unity of the ten ASEAN member countries. In May 1997, the organization's flag was approved . The above emblem was placed on a rectangular blue cloth of standard sizes.
ASEAN Free Trade Area
The creation of a free trade zone that facilitates the unhindered movement of goods within the ASEAN member countries is one of the main achievements of the organization described. The corresponding agreement was signed in the winter of 1992 in Singapore.
In 2007, ASEAN first announced plans to conclude similar agreements with Japan, China, South Korea and some other states as part of the creation of an ASEAN economic community. A free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand was signed in February 2009. Three years ago, in 2013, the first negotiations were held in Indonesia, which discussed the prospect of creating a āComprehensive Regional Economic Partnershipā.
Further prospects for expanding the organization
ASEAN currently has 10 members. Two other states (Papua New Guinea and East Timor) have observer status in the organization.
Back in the 1990s, members of the association tried to attract Japan, South Korea, and China to integration into ASEAN. However, these plans failed largely due to the active intervention of the United States. Nevertheless, further integration processes in the region nevertheless continued. In 1997, a block of countries was formed in the format of "ASEAN plus three." After this, a major summit was held, to which not only the three above-mentioned states were attracted, but also Australia, New Zealand and India.
In the spring of 2011, the authorities of East Timor announced their intention to join a group of ASEAN member countries. A statement was made at the organizationās summit in Jakarta. Indonesia then very warmly welcomed the official delegation of East Timor.
Another promising member of ASEAN is called Papua New Guinea. Since 1981, this state has observer status in the association. Despite the fact that this is a country from Melanesia, it works closely with the organization in the economic sphere.
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 partnership declarations were signed.
The dialogue between Russia and ASEAN deepened even 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, a Russia-ASEAN summit was held in Malaysia, in which Vladimir Putin took part. The next such meeting was held in 2010 in Hanoi. In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia regularly participates in conferences and meetings of the Association in the formats "ASEAN +1" and "ASEAN +10".
Russia has close historical ties with a number of countries from among the members 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 the 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 establishment of partnerships. The coming year has already been declared the Year of Russian Culture in the states of the Association.
Finally...
ASEAN is an international organization whose members collaborate in many areas. The association arose after the collapse of the world colonial system.
Today, ASEAN countries are ten independent states in Southeast Asia. Their cooperation has contributed to the solution of a large number of controversial issues in various fields.