Volume 6, Issue 2.
Summer
With this speech, His Excellency Tan Sri M. Ghazali Shafie, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, opened the Conference on "ASEAN - Today and Tomorrow," held at the Fletcher School, 11 November 1981. The Conference was attended by dignitaries from all five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Singapore, Malaysia, ... read moreIndonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. The Foreign Minister's address traces the evolution of ASEAN, analyzes its economic and political structures, and discusses the organization's relations with other Asian powers - China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Important events in recent Southeast Asian history, from the Indochina conflict to Kampuchea's tragic fate, are dealt with from the perspective of ASEAN. His Excellency also points to ASEAN's emergence on the international scene, as reflected by the extensive ties it has cultivated with the US and Europe, and the active role it has played in the UN. Looking to the future, he expresses optimism about ASEAN's further development and its continuing contribution to peace and stability in the region.
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