Membership

10 States ― Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 1 Observer – Papua New Guinea.

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Membership

27 States – Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, European

Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russian
Federation, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, United States, and Vietnam.

History

ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original member countries:
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January
1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April
1999.

Objectives

The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: (1) to accelerate
the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint
endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a
prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations, and (2) to promote regional
peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship
among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. In
1995, the ASEAN Heads of State and Government re-affirmed that “Cooperative peace and
shared prosperity shall be the fundamental goals of ASEAN.”

Fundamental Principles

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia, signed at the First ASEAN Summit
on 24 February 1976, declared that in their relations with one another, the High Contracting
Parties should be guided by the following fundamental principles:

 Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity,

and national identity of all nations;
 The right of every State to lead its national existence free from external
interference, subversion, or coercion;
 Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
 Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner;
 Renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
 Effective cooperation among themselves.
Political Cooperation

The TAC stated that ASEAN political and security dialogue and cooperation should aim to
promote regional peace and stability by enhancing regional resilience. Regional resilience shall
be achieved by cooperating in all fields based on the principles of self-confidence, self-reliance,
mutual respect, cooperation, and solidarity, which shall constitute the foundation for a strong
and viable community of nations in Southeast Asia.
Some of the major political accords of ASEAN are as follows:

 ASEAN Declaration, Bangkok, 8 August 1967

 Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality Declaration, Kuala Lumpur, 27 November
1971
 Declaration of ASEAN Concord, Bali, 24 February 1976
 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, Bali, 24 February 1976
 ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea, Manila, 22 July 1992
 Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, Bangkok, 15 December
1997
 ASEAN Vision 2020, Kuala Lumpur, 15 December 1997
 Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism, 5 November 2001
 Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, Bali, 7 October 2003
 ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism (ACCT), 11 January 2007
 Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN
Community by 2015, 11 January 2007

Although ASEAN States cooperate mainly on economic and social issues, the organization has a
security function, with a long-discussed program for confidence-building measures and for
establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Southeast Asia, with the objective of implementing
ASEAN’s 1971 Declaration on a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN), and a
Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), which would be a component of ZOPFAN.

Verification and Compliance

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is an important multilateral forum for political and security
consultations and cooperation. The ARF has begun to explore activities where there is overlap
between confidence-building measures and preventive diplomacy. ASEAN Member States are
urged to settle disputes through friendly negotiations applying the procedures of the Treaty of
Amity and Cooperation (TAC) of 1976. However, the Member States are not obliged to use the
Treaty stipulations for the peaceful settlement of disputes. In case a State resorts to the use of
force, no system of collective security is foreseen.

Indonesia, Philippines most democratic countries; Laos an 'authoritarian regime'

Indonesia and the Philippines are the most democratic nations compared to the rest of ASEAN
with scores of 6.97 and 6.94, respectively, according to Economist Intelligence Unit's
Democracy Index 2016.

The Democracy Index was based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil
liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on
their scores, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: "full
democracy;" "flawed democracy;" "hybrid regime;" and "authoritarian regime."

Both Indonesia and the Philippines were under "flawed democracy." Meanwhile, no ASEAN
member-state made it to the "full democracy" group.

Laos came last with a score of 2.37 that was classified by EIU as "authoritarian." The Sultanate
of Brunei was not included in the ranking.
Philippines is 2nd most populated ASEAN country; Indonesia ranks 1st
With a total of 103 million people living in the country, the Philippines was the second nation
with the highest population in Southeast Asia in 2016, data from the World Bank show.

Topping the list was Indonesia with a total population of 261 million. Meanwhile, Brunei, which
was home to 423,000 people, was the least populated ASEAN country.

Philippines ranks 4th in developing human capital; Cambodia takes last spot
Compared to its peers in the region, the Philippines ranked fourth in terms of human capital
with a score of 64.36, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Human Capital Index
report 2017.

WEF's report defines "human capital" as the knowledge and skills people possess that enable
them to create value in the global economic system. It ranks economies on how well they are
developing their human capital across four thematic sub-indices: capacity; deployment;
development; and know-how.

Taking the index's top spot was Singapore, which bagged a score of 73.28. On the other hand,
Cambodia, which logged a score of 57.28, was ranked at the bottom of the roster.

Philippines is top country in terms of gender parity; Malaysia scored the lowest
When it comes to progress in closing gender gaps across industry talent pools and occupations,
the Philippines ranked first among ASEAN member-states with a score of 0.790, WEF said in its
2017 Global Gender Gap Report.

Laos came second with a score of 0.703. Meanwhile, despite its steady progress on closing its
political empowerment gender gap, Malaysia was the worst performing Southeast Asian nation
in the index.

Philippines is 3rd largest economy in ASEAN based on GDP; Indonesia, Thailand biggest
Indonesia's gross domestic product totaled $932 billion in 2016 while Thailand placed second at
$406 billion, World Bank reported.

This was followed by the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia at $304 billion, $297 billion and
$296 billion, respectively. Brunei has the smallest economy based on GDP at $11 billion.

Singapore bags highest score in terms of access to physical infrastructure; Philippines ranks 5th
When it comes to access to physical infrastructure, the Philippines ranked 5th among Southeast
Asian countries with a score of 0.336, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific's Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report 2017.

UN ESCAP's report captures the availability, quality and type of physical infrastructure
investments covering transport, energy, information and communications technology, and
water supply and sanitation.

The Philippine score was above Indonesia's 0.278, Lao People's Democratic Republic's 0.225,
Myanmar's 0.198, and Cambodia's 0.186.

However, it falls below Thailand's 0.418, Vietnam's 0.419, Malaysia's 0.502, and Singapore's
0.708. Brunei was not included in the ranking.
Singapore has fastest fixed broadband speed; Myanmar slowest
According to Speedtest's Global Index for October 2017, Singapore has the fastest broadband
internet with a download speed of 148.62 mbps.

Meanwhile, the Philippines was ranked 7th with a download speed of 13.5 mbps followed by
Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar at 11.46 mbps, 9.31 mbps, and 7.40 mbps, respectively.

Singapore is least corrupt in the region; Philippines takes middle spot

In terms of level of corruption, the Philippines settled at the middle of the ranking, according to
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.

The Philippines got a score of 35 that was well below the midpoint of the report's scale of 0
(highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Singapore scored the highest at 84 while Cambodia, which received a score of 21, was the
ASEAN country with most corrupt public sectors.

Philippines is least peaceful country in ASEAN

The Philippines is the least peaceful nation in the regional bloc with a score of 2.555, data from
Vision of Humanity's Global Peace Index 2017 revealed.

The report used 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators measured the state of peace using
three thematic domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing
domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarization.

On the other hand, Singapore is the most peaceful Southeast Asian nation with a score of
1.534. Brunei was not ranked but it was among the top ten per capita military spending
countries globally as per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 2015 data.

Indonesia, Philippines most democratic countries; Laos an 'authoritarian regime'

Indonesia and the Philippines are the most democratic nations compared to the rest of ASEAN
with scores of 6.97 and 6.94, respectively, according to Economist Intelligence Unit's
Democracy Index 2016.

The Democracy Index was based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil
liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on
their scores, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: "full
democracy;" "flawed democracy;" "hybrid regime;" and "authoritarian regime."

Both Indonesia and the Philippines were under "flawed democracy." Meanwhile, no ASEAN
member-state made it to the "full democracy" group.

Laos came last with a score of 2.37 that was classified by EIU as "authoritarian." The Sultanate
of Brunei was not included in the ranking.

Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία stratēgia, "art of troop leader; office of general, command,
generalship") is a high level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty.
In the sense of the "art of the general", which included several subsets of skills including
"tactics", siegecraft, logistics etc., the term came into use in the 6th century C.E. in East Roman
terminology, and was translated into Western vernacular languages only in the 18th century.
From then until the 20th century, the word "strategy" came to denote "a comprehensive way
to try to pursue political ends, including the threat or actual use of force, in a dialectic of wills"
in a military conflict, in which both adversaries interact.
Strategy is important because the resources available to achieve these goals are usually limited.
Strategy generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and
mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy describes how the ends (goals) will be
achieved by the means (resources). Strategy can be intended or can emerge as a pattern of
activity as the organization adapts to its environment or competes. It involves activities such
as strategic planning and strategic thinking.
Henry Mintzberg from McGill University defined strategy as a pattern in a stream of decisions
to contrast with a view of strategy as planning, while Henrik von Scheel defines the essence of
strategy as the activities to deliver a unique mix of value – choosing to perform activities
differently or to perform different activities than rivals. while Max McKeown (2011) argues that
"strategy is about shaping the future" and is the human attempt to get to "desirable ends with
available means". Dr. Vladimir Kvint defines strategy as "a system of finding, formulating, and
developing a doctrine that will ensure long-term success if followed faithfully." Complexity
theorists define strategy as the unfolding of the internal and external aspects of the
organization that results in actions in a socio-economic context.
Strategic management is the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives
taken by a company's top management on behalf of owners, based on consideration
of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the
organization competes.
Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and involves specifying the
organization's objectives, developing policies and plans designed to achieve these objectives,
and then allocating resources to implement the plans. Academics and practicing managers have
developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision making in the
context of complex environments and competitive dynamics.[2] Strategic management is not
static in nature; the models often include a feedback loop to monitor execution and inform the
next round of planning.
Michael Porter identifies three principles underlying strategy: creating a "unique and valuable
[market] position", making trade-offs by choosing "what not to do", and creating "fit" by
aligning company activities with one another to support the chosen strategy.
Corporate strategy involves answering a key question from a portfolio perspective: "What
business should we be in?" Business strategy involves answering the question: "How shall we
compete in this business?" In management theory and practice, a further distinction is often
made between strategic management and operational management. Operational management
is concerned primarily with improving efficiency and controlling costs within the boundaries set
by the organization's strategy.