ASEAN
From Encyclopædia
The Association of Southeast Asian
nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967 by the governments of
Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines,
Singapore, and
Thailand to promote economic
growth, social and cultural development, and a balance of power in the Southeast Asian region. ASEAN was formed during the
Vietnam War and supported the unsuccessful U. S. effort to prevent the establishment of a Communist government in
Vietnam. After the installation of a Vietnamese-backed government in Cambodia in 1979, ASEAN supported an opposition government in exile made up of
Khmer Rouge and two non-Communist factions. The newly independent
nation of Brunei joined ASEAN in 1984. Today the organization is concerned primarily with improving economic ties among its members.
