Die sicherheitspolitische Kooperation der ASEAN-StaatenKai Michael Schellhorn

ASIEN – Nr. 19 (1986) pp. 1–19

Until now, ASEAN as an entity has no institutionalized and centralized collective security policy. Instead of this, cooperation in the field of political security consists of different components on three levels: 1. The level of binding multilateral security treaties between the member states of ASEAN and extra-regional powers. There exist the commitments of Thailand and the Philippines to the Manila Treaty and the guarantees for Singapore and Malaysia within the Five Power Defence Agreement. 2. The level of bilateral security treaties between individual ASEAN states and extra-regional powers: The commitment of the USA to Thailand and the Philippines as well as bilateral supplementary treaties between Malaysia/Singapore and Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. 3. The level of bilateral, and in first steps of trilatera,l cooperation in the field of political security within the six ASEAN states. There are the military treaties of cooperation and rapprochements between Thailand and Malaysia, Malaysia and Singapore, the Philippines and lndonesia, Singapore and Brunei. The mentioned cooperation between the ASEAN states originated in bilateral military measures to keep up domestic security of the partners. On account of the increasing military presence of the Soviet Union and the third Indochina conflict, presently the ASEAN states change their attitudes towards external threats. The threatening by external powers, particularly by the Soviet Union as a newcomer in the region, but also by Vietnam and the PR China, can result in a continual intensification of measures in the field of security policy among the ASEAN states. This might lead to a development, to a levelling up, of security cooperation towards a future collective organization of ASEAN in this field. (Red.)