ASEAN is viewed variously as an organization for regional confidence building, economic cooperation, or just a talk shop, depending upon the knowledge and disposition of the beholder. But not many people outside elite circles think of it as a geopolitical player. Yet, ASEAN has such a role. It has always wanted to influence the shape of the regional order and the role of major powers in it.

At one time there was a strong impulse among a few ASEAN members to keep the major powers out of Southeast Asia. This sentiment was reflected in the 1971 Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) Declaration, a document still cherished in the ASEAN pantheon, but now regarded more as a declaration of the region's desire to be the primary arbiter of its own fate. By the time the Cold War was over, it was clear to all ASEAN members that the major powers could not be kept out of Southeast Asia: rather ASEAN should seek a balance of their interests in the region.

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was set up in 1994 to address strategic and security concerns that arose after the end of the Cold War. These included the challenge of how to enmesh a rising China into the regional system and get it accustomed to international norms, and how to further anchor the US in the region and get it involved in a multilateral security framework. The ARF has remained a key vehicle for ASEAN's efforts to shape the geopolitical order in Southeast and East Asia. But it is not the only one. Others include the dialogue relationships with outside powers, the ASEAN Plus Three set-up, and the East Asian Summit.

Perhaps no single document spells out explicitly and comprehensively the contents of ASEAN's geopolitical vision for the region.