Thailand and the Formation of ACD

Abstract

The objectives of this article are two-fold: (1) to understand Thailand’s strategy to form the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) and (2) to examine the attitudes and reactions of ACD founding-member countries, especially regional great powers. To achieve these objectives, this article used document analysis on primary sources, including Foreign Ministry’s and related agencies’ declassified documents. This article found that Thailand’s ACD strategy was to seek political support and participations from regional great powers. However, China’s collaboration was considered the key to success. Although some foreign governments raised concerns over ACD’s unclear goals, informal institutional design and overlap with existing regional arrangements, they eventually joined the new continent-wide forum as its founding members.