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1 1 (May 22, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzum0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service U The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Overview 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 630 million and a combined annual gross domestic product (GDP) of around $2.4 trillion. Established in 1967, it has grown into one of the world's largest regional fora, representing a strategically important region with some of the world's busiest sea lanes, including the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Taken collectively, ASEAN would rank 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. Members rotate as chairs: Thailand is ASEAN's chair for 2019 and Vietnam is to assume the chair in 2020. ASEAN engages in a wide range of diplomatic, economic and security discussions through hundreds of annual meetings and through a secretariat based in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2008, the United States became the first non-ASEAN nation to appoint a representative to ASEAN, and in 2011 opened a U.S. mission to ASEAN in Jakarta with a resident Ambassador. Other ASEAN dialogue partners have followed suit. ASEAN is a diverse and informal organization, operating on principles including consensus and non-interference 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-ensure that the group's diverse members continue to discuss issues where their interests sometimes diverge. ASEAN includes nations across the economic development spectrum, and its political systems include democracies, semi-authoritarian states, and repressive military regimes. U.S.-ASEAN Relations ASEAN has played a key role in U.S. policy towards Southeast Asia. While much U.S. diplomacy is conducted bilaterally with the organization's individual members, engagement with ASEAN offers opportunities to encourage multilateral cooperation and promote U.S. goals across the region. The United States initially supported ASEAN as a means to promote regional dialogue and as a bulwark against Communism in Asia, becoming an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1977. In 2009, the United States acceded to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and committed to an annual U.S. -ASEAN Meeting. In 2012, it raised the level of the annual U.S.-ASEAN meeting to a Leaders Meeting, and in November 2015, it announced the creation of a U.S.-ASEAN Strategic Partnership. pdated May 22, 2019 Successive U.S. Administrations have stated that the United States has deep interests in Southeast Asia, including fostering democracy and human rights, encouraging liberal trade and investment regimes, addressing maritime security and rising tensions in the South China Sea, promoting environmental protection, countering terrorist threats, and combatting human trafficking and illegal trafficking in narcotics and wildlife. Observers in the region have largely welcomed U.S. initiatives that work through ASEAN. Some Southeast Asian observers have expressed concern about proposed U.S. funding cuts for ASEAN-centered programs in FY2018 and FY2019. In a region where showing up for diplomatic gatherings is considered important, President Trump did not attend a series of summits, including the U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting, in Singapore in 2018. The Trump Administration has cast its regional strategy as the promotion of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, a formulation that raises some concern for some ASEAN members, who see the group as a central hub for regional diplomacy. Administration officials have sought to reassure ASEAN of its importance. ASEAN is literally at the center of the Indo-Pacific, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in July 2018, and it plays a central role in the Indo-Pacific vision that America is presenting. ASEAN's current chair, Thailand, says it intends to issue a joint ASEAN statement on the Free and Open Indo-Pacific this year. The United States has launched a series of initiatives with ASEAN and with other Southeast Asian regional institutions. U.S.-ASEAN Connect was created in 2016 as an effort to coordinate U.S. public- and private-sector economic initiatives in the region through the U.S. Mission to ASEAN and the U.S. Embassies in Bangkok and Singapore. Other U.S. initiatives targeted at ASEAN include an expanded Fulbright Exchange of ASEAN-U.S. Scholars, aid for ASEAN's formation of a Single Customs Window to facilitate easier trade of goods and services, and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) which offers scholarships and opportunities for young leaders in the region. In November, 2018, Vice President Pence announced a U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership, to promote U.S. investment in the region's digital infrastructure. ASEAN and Asian Regional Architecture Asia has no dominant EU-style multilateral body, and many see the region's economic and security architectures as underdeveloped. The United States has long had strong bilateral alliances and security partnerships with individual Southeast Asian nations, including treaty alliances with the Philippines and Thailand, as well as a close security partnership with Singapore. In recent years, some U.S. officials have spoken of a need to strengthen the region's multilateral institutions as well, including ASEAN. https://crsreportscorg ressgo

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