ABSTRACT
Southeast Asian regional cooperation started to progress during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. However, standing in the way of further integration was the Malaysian–Indonesian conflict. The idea of forming a new regional association with solely Southeast Asian membership came out of the talks to end Confrontation in Bangkok from 29 May to 1 June 1966. Indonesian and Malaysian officials were invited to the Thai capital to discuss conditions for a cease-fire in the conflict. Despite internal conflicts, the two major groups in Sukarno’s government, the PKI and the army, backed Confrontation. The British believed that even if Sukarno left office, the conflict was likely to continue, as his successor would probably go on balancing the interests of the army and the PKI, as no leader would want to appear to be unpatriotic by easing Confrontation. Confrontation was always one issue on which the military and the communist factions in Sukarno’s government agreed.
