YIJC ASEAN Lecture Notes

YISHUN INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES - HISTORY UNIT H1 SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY 8838/01 Done by Mr Jasper Goh (2024). 55 Theme 3: The Cold War and Southeast Asia, 1945 – 1991 Topic 2: ASEAN and the Cold War The Second Indochina War (1959 - 1975) 1. Background – The Formation of ASEAN 2. ASEAN’s responses to Cold War developments in Southeast Asia 3. Factors shaping ASEAN’s responses to the development of the Cold War

YISHUN INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES - HISTORY UNIT H1 SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY 8838/01 Done by Mr Jasper Goh (2024). 56 1. Background – The Formation of ASEAN *While the H1 syllabus does not go in -depth into ASEAN’s formation, it is still necessary for us to at least have a brief understanding of how/why ASEAN was formed and what it stands for before we can go into analysing ASEAN’s responses to the Cold War in Southeast Asia. OVERVIEW I. The Concept of Regionalism II. Pre-ASEAN regional cooperation III. Why the need for ASEAN IV. Foundational years of ASEAN V. Features of ASEAN I. THE CONCEPT OF REGIONALISM I. The Concept of Regionalism ● It primarily refers to: o A group of states banding together o It is the …’behaviour of states to group themselves together or to be identified by an outsider to behave as such, for the common good.’ ● It is a mid-way construct o It is in between the forces of Nationalism and Universalism. o It recognizes the limitations of the State (and nationalist forces) o It believes that the Universal set-up is too distant and ideal to achieve ● 2 types of regionalism o Informal regionalism ▪ Driven by non-state actors e.g. business networks, subregional economic cooperation such as the Singapore-Johore-Riau island growth triangle o Formal regionalism ▪ Driven by regional groupings like ASEAN

YISHUN INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES - HISTORY UNIT H1 SOUTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY 8838/01 Done by Mr Jasper Goh (2024). 57 II. PRE-ASEAN REGIONAL COOPERATION Out of the Region Grouping In the Region Grouping (A) Asian initiated cooperation The Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi (1947) ● Representatives of 18 Asian and African countries met in New Delhi in 1947. ● Positive: o First ever conference held of this nature o Agreed on the need for greater cooperation ● Limitations: o Only 3 SEA states were invited (Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam); the rest were from other Asian countries o Smaller nations felt threatened by the presence of China and India Asian and Pacific Council (ASPAC, Jun 1966) o Was initiated by the Korean government to foster cooperation and solidarity among the free Asian and Pacific countries against communist aggression and infiltration and to develop their national economies. It was to form a ‘second front’ for US military ac tion in Vietnam (B) Involved western powers Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO