ABSTRACT
In the harsh world of international politics the United States is often viewed in the ASEAN countries as well intentioned, but naive, immature, inconsistent, and driven by domestic political considerations. Most ASEAN leaders accept that a United States interest and presence in the region is crucial; yet they liken the American presence to loose cannon on a rolling deck. The principal American military presence in the ASEAN region emanates from the Philippines, where Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base represent America's largest military installations outside the United States. In the early 1970s an American scholar reported that the older generation of Indonesian elites tended to perceive the United States in generally favorable terms. American-Indonesian relations soured rapidly during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and presumably Indonesian elite perceptions of the United States suffered accordingly. The United States has gained a position of fairly high esteem in the institutional memory of Thailand.
