ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the significance of the concept of regional cooperation for American Southeast Asian policy as well as the interaction between US policy and regional initiatives taken by the noncommunist countries of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The concept of regionalism was realized in the form of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Secretary of State Dulles described the primary benefit of the Manila Treaty. The signatory parties of the Manila Treaty founded SEATO in Bangkok. A series of bilateral meetings between the foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian states in the first half of 1967 finally paved the way for the formation of a new regional organization: ASEAN, ASEAN was founded in Bangkok on August 8,1967, by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. ASEAN proved to become the most successful regional organization outside of Europe as well as a collective focus within the foreign policy formation of the United States toward Asia.
