ABSTRACT
ASEAN took advantage of post-Cold War fluidity and the difficult relations between the region's major powers to establish a leading role in the ARF, and built on this success to begin a dialogue with Europe. Southeast Asian affairs reversal of fortune is the result of three coincident challenges: enlargement, economic adversity and Indonesia's political transition following the resignation of Suharto in May 1998. In signing the TAC, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia committed themselves to preventing disputes from arising with their neighbours and renounced the threat or use of force to resolve disagreements. Vietnam has made great efforts to adapt to ASEAN's consensual and familial atmosphere. It joined the emerging Association consensus to postpone Cambodia's admission following Hun Sen's coup in July 1997, despite important reasons to argue for Phnom Penh's entry to take place on schedule. ASEAN's apparent helplessness in the face of Cambodia's deteriorating political situation in early 1997 opened the debate on non-interference.
