The process of ASEAN’s institutional consolidation in 1968-1976 : theoretical implications for changes of third-world security oriented institution

Abstract

This paper, focusing on the 1968-1976 institutional changes of ASEAN, a Third

World Security-Oriented Institution (SOI), attempts to develop a theoretical model of

institutional transformation by utilizing a punctuated equilibrium model. This

theoretical model illustrates interactions between structure and agent to explain both

why and how institutional transformation occurs: first, changes in the external

security environment foster or hinder SOI’s functions, and thus, they trigger internal

political discussions among member states; and second, internal political discussions

define the direction of SOI’s institutional transformation. Focusing on changes in the

regional balance of power in Southeast Asia from 1968 to 1971 and from 1972-1976,

this paper examines the process of ASEAN’s creation of the Zone of Peace, Freedom,

and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) in 1971, and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC)

and the Bali Concord in 1976.