Against all odds and expectations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has managed to survive 50 years and celebrated its golden anniversary in 2017.
Regionalism in Southeast Asia
Regionalism began to arrive in Southeast Asia in 1949 when the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE), the predecessor of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), was moved from Shanghai to Bangkok.
This was followed by the formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in September 1954, also based in Bangkok.
