After 1991 ASEAN deepened economic cooperation, expanded to ten members and built forums to engage the major powers.
With the Cold War over, ASEAN turned more to economics. At the 1992 Singapore summit it agreed to create the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), gradually cutting tariffs between members. Before this, trade between ASEAN states had been a small share of their total trade.
ASEAN expanded. Brunei had joined in 1984. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999, making ten members. Former enemies now sat together.
ASEAN built forums to engage external powers. The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), first held in 1994, brought the major powers into security dialogue. After the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, ASEAN Plus Three meetings with China, Japan and South Korea began.
Limits remained. The ASEAN Way, decisions by consensus and non-interference, preserved unity but often meant inaction. ASEAN could do little during the 1997 crisis. Disputes in the South China Sea, such as China's occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995, also tested its influence.
- AFTA
- Agreed at the 1992 Singapore summit.
- Enlargement
- Brunei 1984; Vietnam 1995; Laos and Myanmar 1997; Cambodia 1999.
- ASEAN Regional Forum
- First held 1994.
- ASEAN Plus Three
- Began after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
Worked example: Evaluating ASEAN's economic outcomes
An H2 question asks how far ASEAN promoted regional economic cooperation.
- Before 1992: preferential trade and joint projects achieved little.
- After 1992: AFTA created a framework for freer trade.
- Dialogue partners helped attract investment.
- Limit: national interests and the 1997 crisis showed the limits of cooperation.
Watch out for this
ASEAN had ten members from its founding.
It had five founding members in 1967. Brunei joined in 1984, and the others joined between 1995 and 1999.
Check your understanding
What was the ASEAN Regional Forum?
- A forum for security dialogue including the major powers, first held in 1994
- ASEAN's free trade area
- A military alliance