Association of South-East Asia
The Association of South-East Asia (ASA) was a relatively short-lived experiment of regional cooperation in Southeast Asia. The association was established in Bangkok on 31 July 1961 and included Malaya, Thailand and the Philippines.
The ASA was conceived as a counterbalance to the poorly-respected SEATO (South-East Asia Treaty Organization). The basic idea of the ASA was that economic development and economic progress were the basis for stable relations in the states and the best guarantee of political independence.
The association faded within two years without any progress and was additionally burdened by the dispute between the newly arrived Malaysia and the Philippines over Sabah. In addition, Indonesia under President Sukarno also participated in the decline of the ASA by not recognizing Malaysia as a legitimate successor of Malaya (1963-1964). This also destroyed the establishment of a Malay federation between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines (MAPHILINDO) shortly after its founding.
After the fall of Sukarno in September 1965, the road for new possibilities of cooperation became free and a short resurgence of the ASA took place. As a consequence of an Indonesian initiative and the consolidation of all those relations already existing among the alliances ASA and MALPHILINDO, the ASA finally entered the newly founded ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations). ASEAN retained the structures and the security concept of ASA. Edit sourcetext
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