In addi6on, at a 6me when the US was having problems at
home and the worry that there could be diminished American
interest In the Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, the
thinking was that it was equally important to engage the US
• Finally, ASEAN would like to play a role in the structuring of
the Asia-Pacific security architecture in the post cold war era;
it did not want the process to be dominated by major players
• Specifically, ASEAN tried to consolidate its diploma6c gain
aHer the conclusion of the Paris agreements on Cambodia in
1991. It would like to con6nue to develop its stabilizing role in
the Asia-Pacific, par6cularly in Southeast Asia through the
forma6on of the ARF