ABSTRACT
Today, Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse regions on earth. Nevertheless, one of the earliest common influences to drive a convergence of identities within the region (limited as that may be) was the mutual impact of colonialism and the volatile process of achieving independence that followed. While some of the Southeast Asian states were reluctantly ‘pushed’ together in the face of domestic and international volatility, the identities of other states have been pulled apart as a consequence of the Cold War and associated great power competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, and despite periods of conflict and antagonistic regional relations, several Southeast Asian states eventually sought a modus vivendi in their intramural relations. This working arrangement emerged in the hope that ‘limited collaboration’ might better equip these states to overcome some of the causes behind the volatility of individual states and thus enhance the viability of the regimes in power. As will be seen, and despite several abortive attempts at multilateralism, the result was the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967.
