อาเซียนกับความจำเป็นของการรวมตัวระดับภูมิภาค

บทคัดย่อ

ASEAN and the Imperatives of Regional Integration

This article traces the initial motives and conditions, inside as well as outside Southeast Asia, which led to the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in August 1967. It then considers the aspirations motivating the effort of ASEAN leaders to forge regional solidarity and shaping the patterns of its role in this region and the wider Asia-Pacific. In addition, the paper analyses the imperatives that have become increasingly strong since the late 1990s for ASEAN to build greater cohesiveness at the level of regional integration and at the same time to widen the framework for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific to cover nearly every country in the region. The most potent influences in this respect include the increasing globalization and the emergence of new economic powers like China and India. ASEAN's new solidarity is taking the form of a community that is based on political-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars.