ABSTRACT
Beginning in 1949, different approaches on the most suitable form of regional security arrangement for East and Southeast Asia were hotly debated among states. These have manifested in several framework proposals with each centred on various states’ interests. Despite the common goal of “collective security”, the debating states were marred with constraints such as post-war perceptions towards and the absence of diplomatic relations with former enemies, internal assessments of then geopolitical circumstances of an emerging Cold War, and non-consensus on a doctrine to which the regional security arrangement was to be based on. Even the United States, the leading power in the group, acknowledged that the regional security situation was a mere “patchwork” with itself having separate security arrangements with Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and with both Australia and New Zealand (ANZUS). This information provides a comprehensive context for understanding the later reconciliation of ideas and formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954.
