ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the meaning and role of the Fukuda Doctrine from the perspective of the relationship between ASEAN on the one hand and major power relations (both in politico-security relations and economic relations) on the other. I take two approaches to the Fukuda Doctrine. One is the Fukuda Doctrine of 1977 itself. How and why was it presented at the time of 1977 from Japan and how was it perceived in the ASEAN countries? My argument is that the Fukuda Doctrine was presented at the time when the United States was receding from Southeast Asia after the drawbacks of the Vietnam War and when the Soviet Union was expanding on a world-wide scale including the Southeast Asia. I believe that ASEAN strove for autonomy from the major power competition and tried hard to consolidate internal stability and cohesion.
