U.S. Accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations? Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC)
Abstract
In February 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the Obama Administration would launch its formal interagency process to pursue accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), one of the ten-nation organization's core documents. The Administration reportedly hopes to announce its accession at the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministerial meeting July 22-23, 2009. This report analyzes the legal and diplomatic issues involved with accession to the TAC. ASEAN is Southeast Asia's primary multilateral organization. Its ten member-nations include over 500 million people. Collectively, ASEAN is one of the United States? largest trading partners, constituting about 5%-6% of total U.S. trade. Geographically, Southeast Asia includes some of the world's most critical sea lanes, including the Straits of Malacca, through which pass a large percentage of the world's trade. The TAC was first negotiated in 1976 and subsequently amended to allow non-regional countries to accede. Fifteen countries have done so, including U.S. allies Japan, South Korea, and Australia, as well as China, Russia, and India.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 13, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA503560
Entities
People
- Mark E. Manyin
- Michael J. Garcia
- Wayne M. Morrison
Organizations
- Library of Congress