ABSTRACT
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) rapid expansion reflected the Association's belief that it would continue to command respect, both as an economic powerhouse and as a protagonist in regional and interregional groupings. Through the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Association initiated a multilateral security dialogue in the Asia-Pacific, which included the US, Japan, Russia and China, and established the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a forum for discussion between Asia and Europe. Cambodia's accession capped a programme of ambitious enlargement, which also saw the entry of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The fall of Saigon to communist forces and Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia both signalled new stages in the Association's development, but did not require a fundamental change in its approach. Enlargement has significantly increased ASEAN's political and economic diversity. The success that ASEAN enjoyed in the early post-Cold War period heightened expectations among its members of the organisation's competence, and of the depth of its community.
