United States-Asean Relations on Asean's Fortieth Anniversary: A Glass Half Full (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) (Report‪)‬

During this 40th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 30th anniversary of the United States-ASEAN Dialogue, unfortunate scheduling decisions have overshadowed generally improving ties between the United States and ASEAN. Recent attention has been monopolized by the postponement of President George W. Bush's planned visit to Singapore for the first-ever US-ASEAN Summit in September 2007, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's decision not to attend (for the second time in three years) the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila in August 2007, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Christopher Hill's no-show at the US-ASEAN dialogue meeting held earlier this summer in Washington. These two anniversaries provide a useful occasion on which to go beyond day-to-day events and examine trends not only in US relations with ASEAN as an organization, but also US relations with ASEAN member countries. There are of course overlaps amongst the organizational and bilateral "levels" of interactions, but they are also distinct--and, importantly, seen differently in Washington.