Analysis of USA ASEAN Relations

The ties between United States of America (USA) and Association of South East Asia
(ASEAN) have improved year by year. The improvements start to build up rapidly during the
tenure of George W. Bush where many major projects and programs were established and
conducted. Bushs successor, Barrack Obama later made a strategic commitment to
rebalance the relations in the Asia as well as South East Asia by annexing much concise
policies1. However, the recent electoral event in USA has spin a new dimension on the USA-
ASEAN relations in going forward. Quite a number of politic and economy analysts seems to
predict a major deviation from multilateral-focused relations during Obamas presidency
towards aggressive interest-focused relations in Donald Trump administration.

Since the establishment of ASEAN, the USA did not really pay attention to the South
East Asia region or Asia in general until the economic crisis 1997. The collapse of majority of
Asian countries currencies and how fast they manage to recover indicates that the Asian
region have more to offer than what USA sees 2. George Bush during his presidency, starts to
initiate programs promoting investments in Asia region. It is generally know that the vast
population of Asia region which make majority of the world population hold a huge market
spending power. This has come to USA benefits in order to stabilize and further solidify their
position as the world largest economic power. The relation itself heavily favors USA as it hold
more authority in the relation as well as on the world order3.

During Obamas speech during ASEAN Summit in Laos has highlighted on a few
aspects such as Maritime Security, Green Technology and Economy as well as Trade and
Investment. All of the aspect mentioned give a new dimension of where USA interest are.

Maritime Security has been USA focus even before its relation with ASEAN. USA has
been stationing it military forces all over the globe under the Military assistance relation with
many states with Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand being their partner in ASEAN region 4.
Controlling the maritime security is important for USA to maintain its dominancy 5. It could
provide a huge advantage in case a military crisis arisen since it could deploy its trope way
faster than other states.

1 Kimmitt, R. (1991). US-ASEAN Relations. pt2 Department of State Dispatch, 2, 473.

2 Low, L. (2003). Multilateralism, regionalism, bilateral and crossregional free trade arrangements: all
paved with good intentions for ASEAN?. Asian Economic Journal, 17(1), 65-86.
3 Hnggi, H. (2000). Interregionalism: empirical and theoretical perspectives. St. Gallen, University of
St. Gallen.
4 Alagappa, M. (1989). USASEAN Security Relations: Challenges and Prospects. Contemporary
Southeast Asia, 1-39.
5 Capie, D. (2004). Between a hegemon and a hard place: the war on terrorand Southeast AsianUS
relations. The Pacific Review, 17(2), 223-248.
 The development on Green Technology holds the same priority on the USA as any
other states on the maps6. As the protection of the environment is a collective interest of all
states, efforts to preserve it should be taken by all states. The initiative made by USA is a
good first step that may be able to encourage all states to participate. Green technology will
bring a positive change towards the environment. With more focus and attention it would
soon bring much more benefits to all.

The relations between USA and ASEAN undeniably has bring much prosperity to both
sides while taking account many aspects. Within a small span of a decade, many
achievement and projects has been reached and many more to come. With the new
presidency led by the Donald Trump who was known for his massive trading and investment
capability, we hope that the relations will be more prosperous and keep on improving in the
future.

6 Sonnenfeld, D. A., & Mol, A. P. (2002). Globalization and the Transformation of Environmental
Governance An Introduction. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(9), 1318-1339.
References

1. Hnggi, H. (2000). Interregionalism: empirical and theoretical perspectives. St. Gallen,

University of St. Gallen.
2. Low, L. (2003). Multilateralism, regionalism, bilateral and crossregional free trade
arrangements: all paved with good intentions for ASEAN?. Asian Economic
Journal, 17(1), 65-86.
3. Kimmitt, R. (1991). US-ASEAN Relations. pt2 Department of State Dispatch, 2, 473.
4. Capie, D. (2004). Between a hegemon and a hard place: the war on terrorand
Southeast AsianUS relations. The Pacific Review, 17(2), 223-248.
5. Alagappa, M. (1989). USASEAN Security Relations: Challenges and
Prospects. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 1-39.
6. Sonnenfeld, D. A., & Mol, A. P. (2002). Globalization and the Transformation of
Environmental Governance An Introduction. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(9),
1318-1339.