the establishment of
ASEAN was to improve the security of the region and limit extra-regional
influence in member countries. In the early years ASEAN members made several agreements on security issues. The negotiation and signing of were starting points for ASEAN confidence
building and cooperation on security.
Since that time a number of bi-lateral, multi-lateral, and extra-regional security
cooperation initiatives have established what some have called the “ASEAN
defense spider web”.