Ancient civilizations-2

Reappearance of regional interests

After the end of the 17th century, the long-developed polities of Southeast Asia were pulled into a Western-dominated world economy, weakening regional trade networks and strengthening ties with distant colonial powers. In the early years of independence these ties often remained strong enough to be called neocolonial by critics, but after the mid-1960s these partnerships could no longer be controlled by former colonial masters, and the new Southeast Asian states sought to industrialize and diversify their markets. On the one hand, this meant a far greater role for Japan in Southeast Asia; that country is by far the most important trading partner of most Southeast Asian nations. On the other, it meant that many countries began to rediscover commonalities and to examine the possibilities within the region for support and markets.

In 1967 the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed by Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore (Brunei joined in 1985). This group’s initial interest was in security, but it moved cautiously into other fields. It played an important role, for example, in seeking an end to the Vietnam-Cambodia conflict and sought a solution to the civil strife in Cambodia. In economic affairs it worked quietly to discuss such matters as duplication of large industrial projects. Only since the mid-1980s has ASEAN been taken seriously by major powers or even sometimes by Southeast Asians themselves. The formerly Soviet-dominated states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia became part of ASEAN during the 1990s, as did Myanmar. Such circumstances opened up greater regional markets and gave the region as a whole a more imposing world profile. In July 1994 the inaugural ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was convened to facilitate talks between ASEAN and its “dialogue partners” across the globe.

At the turn of the 21st century, ASEAN was a major force for promoting regional trade and resolving security issues. In 2015 the ASEAN Economic Community was established to encourage economic integration and liberalization of economic policy among member states. ASEAN worked to end violence in East Timor and advocated on behalf of its members in the dispute with China over the Spratly Islands. It also took a leading role in the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed at least 225,000 people throughout South and Southeast Asia. In 2017 ASEAN members and China formally endorsed a framework agreement that would govern the conduct of all signatories in the South China Sea. William H. Frederick The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Citation Information

Article Title: History of Southeast Asia

Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Date Published: 20 July 2018

URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Southeast-Asia

Access Date: August 27, 2019

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