ABSTRACT
The initial motivation for the establishment of Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) was about politics and security, mainly to safeguard national independence and prevent the expansion of communist forces. The development of ASEAN is a miracle, because it has achieved regional stability, peace and cooperation through the development of these factors in a segmented, war-stricken, unstable and backward region, which is unprecedented in the history of East Asia. Since it was founded in 1967, ASEAN has been making progress, accumulating rich experience. Taking ASEAN as the focal point is one of the basic principles for the development of ASEAN’s foreign relations and foreign cooperation. The ASEAN Regional Forum is an important measure for ASEAN’s strategy to build itself as the focal point for balancing the great powers. The designed ASEAN community would actually be a “mansion” composed of three parts: the economic community, the security community and the socio-cultural community.
