| Summary/Abstract |
A regional organisation like the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is created with an aim to strengthen intra-regional relations and improve cooperation among the nations on various issues where interests appear to be converging with a possible aim, eventually, of regional integration on the model of European Union (EU). A cursory survey of various regional groupings would indicate that their formation, primarily, was guided by geographical considerations, but other categories were later also employed to justify expansion of the organisation beyond the originally declared geographical limits to include extra-regional members, especially if the prospective member happens to be a powerful country like the US or a rising power like India or China. The outcomes of the functioning of all such organisations, however, depend on how powerful member nation or nations steer the happenings of the organisation. This is not to say that comparatively weaker states do not get the benefit from the collective efforts of the member states, the power relations, however, matter in the ultimate analysis.
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