Updated May 18, 2021
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Overview
India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, and the
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is
United States. The ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-
Southeast Asia’s primary multilateral organization, a 10-
Plus (ADMM+) was established in 2010, bringing senior
member grouping of nations with a combined population of
defense officials from EAS members together regularly and
650 million and a combined annual gross domestic product
hosting multilateral military exchanges.
(GDP) of around $2.8 trillion in 2019. Established in 1967,
it has grown into one of the world’s largest regional fora,
representing a strategically important region straddling
some of the world’s busiest sea lanes, including the Straits
of Malacca and the South China Sea. Taken collectively,
ASEAN would rank as the world’s fifth-largest economy
and the United States’ fourth-largest export market.
ASEAN’s members are Brunei, Burma (Myanmar),
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Members rotate as
chair: Brunei is ASEAN’s chair for 2021 and Cambodia is
to assume the chair in 2022. ASEAN engages in a wide
range of diplomatic, economic and security discussions

through hundreds of annual meetings and through a
Source: Graphic created by CRS.
secretariat based in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2008, the United
States became the first non-ASEAN nation to appoint a
U.S.-ASEAN Relations
representative to ASEAN, and in 2011 opened a U.S.
The United States has long had strong bilateral relations
mission to ASEAN in Jakarta with a resident Ambassador.
with individual Southeast Asian nations, including treaty
Several other nations have followed suit.
alliances with the Philippines and Thailand and a close
security partnership with Singapore. Many U.S.
ASEAN is a diverse and informal organization. Two of its
policymakers see engagement with ASEAN as
core operating principles are consensual decisionmaking
complementing bilateral relationships and strengthening the
and noninterference in the internal affairs of its members.
region’s collective diplomatic weight as other regional
Some observers argue that this style constrains ASEAN
players gain in economic and military power. The United
from acting strongly and cohesively on important issues.
States initially supported ASEAN as a means to promote
Others argue that these principles—dubbed the “ASEAN
Way”—
regional dialogue and as a bulwark against Communism,
promote regional stability and ensure that the
becoming an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1977. In 2009,
group’s members continue to discuss issues where their
the United States acceded to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity
interests sometimes diverge. The principle has been tested
and Cooperation and committed to an annual U.S.-ASEAN
in 2021, as ASEAN seeks to address the crisis that has
Meeting. In 2012, the United States and ASEAN agreed to
followed the Burmese military’s February 1 coup d’etat.
raise the level of the U.S.-ASEAN meeting to a Leaders
ASEAN and Asian Regional Architecture Meeting, and in November 2015 announced a U.S.-ASEAN
Strategic Partnership.
Asia has no dominant EU-style multilateral body, and many
observers see the region’s economic and security
Successive U.S. Administrations have identified deep U.S.
institutions as underdeveloped. ASEAN convenes and
interests in Southeast Asia, including fostering democracy
administratively supports a number of regional fora that
and human rights, encouraging liberal trade and investment
include other governments (known as “dialogue partners”),
regimes, addressing maritime security and tensions in the
including the United States. ASEAN Member governments
deeply value what they call “ASEAN Centrality” in the
South China Sea, promoting environmental protection,
countering piracy and terrorism, and combatting human
evolving regional architecture.
trafficking and trafficking in narcotics and wildlife. Some
of ASEAN’s members were among the first countries
The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), established in 1994
outside China to identify Coronavirus Disease 2019
with 26 Asian and Pacific states plus the EU, was formed to
(COVID-19) cases in early 2020. The region has
facilitate dialogue on political and security matters. The
experienced previous trans-national public health crises,
East Asia Summit (EAS), created in 2005, is an evolving
including avian influenza and the 2003 Severe Acute
leaders-level forum with a varied agenda, in which the
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic, and this
United States gained membership in 2010. The EAS
experience helped some ASEAN members in their initial
includes all 10 ASEAN members, plus Australia, China,
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
response to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the
However, the group’s members have deep disagreements
pandemic continues to hit the region hard.
over how to approach the negotiations with China. Some
ASEAN members, particularly Cambodia and Laos, have
The Biden Administration faces a range of challenges in its
been hesitant to join a unified ASEAN response. Secretary
engagement with ASEAN and Southeast Asia, including
of State Antony Blinken, in his first call with the Philippine
ASEAN’s efforts to address the coup in Burma, and
Foreign Secretary, “pledged to stand with Southeast Asian
regional concerns about the impact of growing Sino-U.S.
claimants in the face of PRC pressure.”
tensions. Many Southeast Asian officials have welcomed
U.S. efforts to push back against Chinese actions, but many
ASEAN’s Economic Integration
in the region are also concerned that any effort to “contain”
ASEAN members play a major role in regional supply
China could be counter-productive. The Administration’s
chains, and U.S. companies are significant investors in
Interim National Security Guidance said the United States
several ASEAN economies. ASEAN has an internal free
will “deepen our partnership with … Singapore, Vietnam,
trade agreement (the ASEAN FTA, or AFTA.) In 2015, the
and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations
group launched an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
(ASEAN) member states, to advance shared objectives.”
to promote trade liberalization and regulatory
harmonization among members, with the goal of creating a
The United States has pursued a series of initiatives with
single ASEAN market and integrated manufacturing base.
ASEAN. U.S.-ASEAN Connect was created in 2016 to
coordinate U.S. public- and private-sector economic
ASEAN members seek to promote infrastructure
initiatives through the U.S. Mission to ASEAN and the U.S.
development in the region, particularly in building greater
Embassies in Bangkok and Singapore. Other initiatives
regional “connectivity” through investment in transport and
include an expanded Fulbright Exchange of ASEAN-U.S.
Information Technology. This has led to substantial demand
Scholars and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders
for foreign investment, including in some cases through
Initiative (YSEALI), which offers scholarships and
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). ASEAN members
opportunities for young leaders. The United States provides
have differing approaches to the BRI. Cambodia and Laos,
aid for ASEAN’s formation of a Single Customs Window
for example, have embraced the BRI as a means of
to facilitate trade. A U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities
developing much needed infrastructure. Vietnam, by
Partnership was launched in 2018 to promote U.S.
contrast, has been highly vocal about concerns surrounding
investment in the region’s digital infrastructure. The United
the terms of BRI investments.
States has also joined Australia and Japan to form the “Blue
Dot Network” to promote sustainable and non-exploitive
ASEAN has trade agreements with several regional
infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia.
partners, including Australia, China, India, Japan, New
Zealand, and South Korea. In 2019, ASEAN and five of
U.S. trade and economic arrangements with ASEAN are
those nations (India withdrew), concluded a trade
limited by the vast diversity of the group’s economies.
agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive
According to the World Bank, per capita GDP among
Economic Partnership (RCEP). Four ASEAN nations—
ASEAN members, based on purchasing power parity,
Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam—are members
ranges from $101,532 in Singapore to $4,361 in Cambodia.
of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for
Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
ASEAN, China, and the South China Sea
China is the largest trade partner and a major source of
Human Rights and the Burma Crisis
investment for many Southeast Asian nations. However,
Human rights conditions in several ASEAN member states
concerns about China’s growing power in the region,
have long been a concern for the United States, and
including worries that China may use its economic leverage
sometimes for the group’s own members. Some ASEAN
to achieve political goals and anger over China’s efforts to
members are effectively one-party states, and coups in
exert control over much of the South China Sea, have
Burma (2021) and Thailand (2006 and 2014) deposed
strained relations with some ASEAN members. Most
democratically elected governments. ASEAN’s approach to
ASEAN members rely on the U.S. security presence and
human rights violations among its members has become a
strong trade and investment ties with the United States to
touchstone issue with the crisis in Burma, in which over
ensure stability and enhance their economic development.
750 people were killed between February 1 and May 14.
ASEAN Leaders and Burmese Gen. Min Aung Hlaing met
Four members—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and
on April 24, 2021, and issued a five-point plan that included
Vietnam—have maritime territorial disputes with China (as
the naming of an ASEAN envoy to address the crisis.
well as with each other), and others have interests in the
South China Sea’s natural resources and shipping lanes. In
Other human rights issues in ASEAN include the
2002, ASEAN and China agreed to a nonbinding
Cambodian government’s banning of the political
Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
opposition, thousands of extra-judicial killings under the
China Sea, in which they agreed to “resolve their territorial
Philippines’ anti-drug program, and continued moves by
and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without
Thailand to protect military authority. The U.S. mission to
resorting to the threat or use of force,” to “exercise self-
ASEAN has sought to foster networks among the region’s
restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate
civil society groups so as to build capacity among non-
or escalate disputes,” and to work toward the creation of a
governmental actors in Southeast Asia.
formal Code of Conduct to govern activities in the region.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

IF10348
Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10348 · VERSION 11 · UPDATED

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