Southeast Asia

US-ASEAN Relations:
New Challenges to Stability in Southeast Asia

During the past six decades the United States has played a major role in supporting peace, stability, and market-oriented economic development in Southeast Asia, but the nature of the US role and the willingness of the Executive branch and Congress to commit resources to support American goals have changed signficantly over time. During the 1950's and 1960's the United States became deeply involved in combatting the advance of communism in Southeast Asia and bolstering a US-led global trading system -- objectives that involved a major commitment of economic and military resources and policy attention. Beginning in the late 1980's, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and China's decision to pursue market-oriented economic development, the United States adopted a more multilateral and less direct approach to advancing its interests through the deeper integration of the countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) into the global economy via economic liberalization. Since 9/11, US policy has sought to expand cooperation with regional states to defeat radical pan-Islamic terrorist groups and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), while also seeking to broaden and deepen US political engagement and promote opportunities for the further growth of trade and investment.

Some regional states and individual analysts believe that at present the United States remains insufficiently attentive to important developments in Southeast Asia that have the potential for significant impact on US security interests and economic well-being. To promote greater understanding within the US government, the business sector, academia, and the general public of the region’s complexity and importance to US interests, our work focuses on:

The dynamic interaction of politics, economics, ethnic and religious diversity in Southeast Asia and the still nascent initiatives towards security cooperation and confidence-building;

• The consequences for regional growth and stability arising from globalization and, in some countries, significant democratic transformation;
• The implications of increasing regional trade and economic integration involving Southeast Asia and a hyper-competitive "rising" China;
• Opportunities for a stronger US role in maintaining a stable balance of power in East Asia and shoring up the economic competitiveness of Southeast Asia.

The diversity of Southeast Asia’s rising urbanization and related uneven levels of development create stresses and fissures that challenge US policymakers and create policy risks. Our program will focus both on these risks as well as opportunities for Southeast Asian and US economic and security interests, by promoting original research, organizing public programs, workshops, seminars, and commissioning and publishing studies on timely topics.

This project is led by Senior Associate, Dr. Richard Cronin.

For more information, contact: rcronin@stimson.org.

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