The agreement on the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community signed on November 22 in Kuala Lumpur by the leading nations of Southeast Asia finally entered into force with much fanfare on December 31, heralding the “awakening” of what could be defined as a new Asian power bloc. Almost echoing the European Union’s Common Market of the 1950s, ASEAN seeks to allow for the free movement of goods, services and skilled labor, a major departure from what has been considered since the earliest days of its existence as a political project for peaceful regional integration.