ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how traditional modes of regional interaction in Southeast Asia are being transformed as a result of rapid changes in domestic political structures. The key force for change identified here is democratization. Unlike in Europe, regional institution building in Southeast Asia was not founded upon a shared commitment to liberal democracy. The founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was helped by a common desire of its members to ensure the survival of regimes that had by then retreated significantly from their post-colonial experiments in liberal democracy. This orientation was further institutionalized by ASEAN’s doctrine of noninterference, which helped to shield its members from outside pressures towards democratization.
