South-East Asia in search of regional identity

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2018, №4(41), 39-53

 
Annotation: The article is considering the process of the ASEAN region-wide identity folding, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in August 2017. The author analyzes the peculiarities of this process, pointing to the extreme heterogeneity of the countries of the region and comes to the conclusion that the regional identity in South-East Asia did not develop naturally, on the basis of the existing integration base, but was artificially created "from above", despite the actual absence of a Mature regional community and in parallel with its formation. Thus, the region-wide identity was consciously constructed by the founding fathers of ASEAN, who stepped over ethnic, religious and political barriers for the prosperity of the peoples of their region.

Keywords: ASEAN, regional identity, Asian values, ASEAN community