One of the major causes of change in the nations and borders of Southeast Asia (SEA) would be the impact of globalization. Globalization promotes increasing contact with other nation-states be it through social media, economic exchange, politics and many other areas. Already, we see results in the form of increasing cooperation through international relations system like ASEAN. However, globalization can change the borders of the region not only through increased cooperation but also through increased competition. In exploring how globalization change nations and borders in Southeast Asia, this paper will also examine how globalization makes economies competitive and this will change nations and border by bringing SEA together through economic integration or result in the battle of economies.
In the area of international relations, we see globalization changing nations and borders of Southeast Asia through increased regional cooperation in the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The establishment of ASEAN on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok during the middle of the Vietnam War was an attempt by SEA states to prevent intraregional conflict, and to create "a voice for themselves in the broader Cold War arena."(Bennett) It also represented an attempt at redefining the individual nation-states as being a part of a regional entity. Globalization of the Cold War had created a need for neighbouring nation-states to become more inter-dependent on one another for the sake of national and regional security and in doing so, brought about increased regional cooperation and the formalization of it through the