The Asian financial crisis and ASEAN’s concept of security

Abstract

The Asian financial crisis (1997-1998) led the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to critically examine its approach to regional security issues. As a result, the ASEAN way has been transformed from its total respect for the principle of non-interference to the formula of “enhanced interaction’, which would allow qualified interventional into the domestic affairs of the member states. The examination of the documents of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting from 1998 to 1004 reveals this change in strategic concept. However, the revision of ASEAN’s concept of security reveals the fundamental contradiction between ASEAN’s original identity based on the principle of non-interference and the need for intervention to effectively deal with issues of regional ramification. How ASEAN reconciles the existing contradiction between its identity and the necessity to intervene in the domestic affairs of its member states will determine ASEAN’s future as a regional organization.