US and Southeast Asia From SEATO to ASEAN

US and Southeast Asia From SEATO to ASEAN

Outline • US strategies of containment – original formulation – SEATO – Indochina and the Philippines • ASEAN – Post-Cold War changes • U. S. and ASEAN – Economy and security

Containment 1950 s-1980 s • US foreign policy treated Southeast Asia as an arena for competition with the Soviet Union • Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: ``Our objective was to purge our foreign policy of all sentimentality”

Appeal of Communism • It seemed to be the wave of the future – dramatic economic and technological advances of the Soviet Union – anti-colonialism – ``importance by association” psychology – opportunity for greater personal power – public disappointment and resentment at the poverty and violence after independence

Architect of Containment • George Kennan’s original formulation called for the coordinated use of political, economic, and military influence to prevent the expansion of Soviet control in vital regions

Original Formulation • • Traditional Russian sense of insecurity Stalin’s need for a hostile world S. U. was not primarily a military threat A long-term containment of Russian expansive tendencies will lead to – "either the break-up or the gradual mellowing of Soviet power. "

``Truman Doctrine” (1947) • ``It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures” • Implies that substantial US support could be counted on anywhere, not just in those vital regions

Economic Strategies • In late 1940 s, economic assistance was the central pillar of anti-communist policy – Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe – The ``arsenal of democracy” • technological and economic resources

Early Aid to Southeast Asia • US pressured the Netherlands to give independence to Dutch East Indies colony • US-Indonesia economic and technical assistance agreement in 1950 • US aid programs to Thailand Burma in 1950

Militarization in Policy • US strategic shift of containment toward reliance on military strength in 1950 s • Obligated US to ``bear any cost” against communist incursions anywhere in the world

SEATO (1954 - 1977) • Southeast Asia Treaty Organization • Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty • Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States • oppose further Communist gains in Southeast Asia

SEATO (1954 - 1977) • Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand • SEATO's principal role was to sanction the U. S. presence in Vietnam, although France and Pakistan withheld support • Unable to intervene in Laos or Vietnam in ‘ 60 s and ‘ 70 s due to its rule of unanimity • SEATO was ultimately disbanded in 1977

Arc of Containment

``Falling Domino" Principle • President Eisenhower (1954 -04 -07): – ``beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences” – ``the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia” – ``the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world”

``Falling Domino" Principle • Simplistic perception of a monolithic Communist bloc • Simplistic assumption that societies and politics in the vast, diverse Asia-Pacific region were essentially all alike

A Source of Misperception • The communist-hunt of 1947 -1953 in US – Federal Employee Loyalty Program – House Un-American Activities Committee – Internal Security Act – Senator Joseph Mc. Carthy claimed communists had infiltrated S. D. and US Army • purged the Administration of its best senior Asia expertise

US in the Philippines • Philippines became a cornerstone of US ``containment” in Southeast Asia • US shored up the Philippine government with advisors and assistance • US upgraded its two bases in the Philippines – Clark Air Force Base and the Subic Naval Base

Clark Air Force Base • Damaged by a volcanic eruption in 1991

Subic Naval Base • The air and naval bases became the most consistent, visible, and emotional of the issues that troubled USPhilippine post-war relations • Natural disaster and the end of Cold War made these bases less desirable to US

Subic Bay • Closed in 1992 • Philippine government converted it into a special economic zone to attract investment – Subic Bay Freeport Zone – Commerce and tourism • 1996 APEC Summit

ASEAN: overview • Association of Southeast Asian Nations • 10 member states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, & Vietnam • home to over 650 million people • combined GDP of US$2. 8 trillion

ASEAN: founding (1967) • 5 founding members: – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines • Bangkok Declaration of 1967: – accelerate economic growth – promote regional peace and stability – contain the spread of communism

End of Cold War • ASEAN Free Trade Area – initiated at ASEAN summit in 1992 – comprehensive program of regional tariff reduction – program later broadened and accelerated – reaffirmed during Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 -1998 • ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015

End of Cold War • Expansion of ASEAN – 1995: Vietnam – 1997: Laos – 1997: Myanmar – 1999: Cambodia

ASEAN: external links • A joint forum with Japan was established in 1977 • A cooperation agreement with the European Community was signed in 1980 • ``ASEAN + 3”: regular series of meetings at the cabinet and head-of-government levels with Japan, China, and South Korea since 1997

U. S. and ASEAN • U. S. -Singapore Free Trade Agreement is America’s first FTA in Asia (2007) • U. S. was the first non-ASEAN country to name an ambassador to ASEAN (2008) • U. S. signed ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2009. • U. S. was the first country to establish a permanent mission to ASEAN (2010)

U. S. and ASEAN • The US-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed in 2006. • Four ASEAN countries: Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, are participants in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement negotiations with the United States.

U. S. -ASEAN Trade • ASEAN ranks 4 th after Canada, Mexico, and China as a goods export market for the United States – $75 billion in goods – $31 billion in services – 59% increase over a decade • The US is the 4 th largest trading partner for ASEAN