IT has been reported that with the Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Chile cancelled, global attention turned to the 35th Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) summit that took place in Bangkok over the weekend.
Formed in 1967, Asean has come a long way to be recognised as one of the foremost regional organisations in the world. The five elder statesmen – representing Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – who gathered in Bangkok back then did so due to the fear of communism creeping down from Vietnam, following the “Domino Theory”. The then US President, Lyndon B. Johnson, had put forth this theory that South-East Asian nations would fall like dominoes if they did not prepare to avert the inevitable.
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