This book is the result of a workshop of the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) held in July 2010. The primary objective is to raise important “talking points” in ASEAN-U.S. relations, in the hope that the workshop would produce a set of recommendations on how to improve their intricate ties. The ASC hopes that any findings as a result of this workshop would be considered by ASEAN in discussions at the subsequent ASEAN-U.S. Meeting and at other ASEAN-U.S. policy forums. We came up with three crucial themes: political cooperation, strategic issues, and economic and technical assistance between the United States and ASEAN. In each session, attention was paid to contemporary issues that have generated an impact on the ASEANU. S. relationship, such as maritime security, the U.S. military presence in this region, the inexorable relations between the United States and China and how both powers interact with ASEAN, the Myanmar issue, as well as the U.S. technical assistance, through the ASEAN Development Vision, to the Advance National Cooperation Programme, known as the ADVANCE project.

Ambassador K. Kesavapany, Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), earlier shared his thoughts on why the United States mattered to ASEAN and vice versa. His thoughts partly inspired the organization of this workshop. He encouraged the ASC to make this workshop a reality, stressing that it was time both ASEAN and the United States take their relationship more seriously than before, considering that the regional and international environment has greatly changed since the end of the Cold War. On behalf of Ambassador Rodolfo C. Severino, head of the ASC, we would like to sincerely thank Ambassador Kesavapany for his unfailing encouragement and support. We are grateful that Ambassador Kesavapany delivered the keynote speech at the workshop, highlighting the inseparable links between ASEAN and the United States.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part hosts a collection of essays which present an overview of ASEAN-U.S. relations. The second part contains papers which discuss specific issues presented by scholars and government officials during the workshop, plus a paper by Scot Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the United States, and U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs. This paper is based on his speech delivered at ISEAS on 9 December 2009 as part of the ASC's ASEAN Ambassadors Seminar Series.