The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 1, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF10348 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Ben Dolven |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is
Southeast Asia’s primary multilateral organization, a 10-
member grouping of nations with a combined population of
667 million and a combined annual gross domestic product
(GDP) of around $3.2 trillion in 2022. Established in 1967,
it has grown into one of the world’s largest regional fora,
representing a strategically important region straddling
some of the world’s busiest sea lanes, including in the
Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Collectively,
ASEAN ranks as the world’s fifth-largest economy and the
United States’ fourth-largest export market.
ASEAN’s members are Brunei, Burma (Myanmar),
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. (Timor-Leste, the
region’s newest nation, has observer status.) Members
rotate as chair: Malaysia is ASEAN’s chair for 2025 and the
Philippines is to assume the chair in 2026. ASEAN engages
in a range of diplomatic, economic, and security discussions
through hundreds of annual meetings and through a
secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2008, the United States
became the first non-ASEAN nation to appoint a
representative to ASEAN, and in 2011 it opened a U.S.
mission to ASEAN in Jakarta with a resident ambassador.
ASEAN is a diverse and informal organization. Two of its
core operating principles are consensual decision-making
and noninterference in the internal affairs of its members.
Some observers argue that this style constrains ASEAN
from acting strongly and cohesively on important issues.
Others argue that these principles—dubbed the “ASEAN
Way”—promote regional stability and ensure that the
group’s members continue to discuss issues where their
interests sometimes diverge. The principle has been tested
as ASEAN seeks to address the crisis that has followed the
Burmese military’s 2021 coup d’état, which has led to a
political and humanitarian crisis in one of the group’s
members.
