This course traces ASEAN's (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) evolution from its formation in 1967 until the present. The regional grouping began with five founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, but has since doubled in size with the addition of Brunei, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Cambodia. Topics to be examined include the reasons for ASEAN's establishment, its early problems, its major reorganization in 1976, its importance for trade, its policies, its growth in membership, its strengths and weaknesses, and its many political, economic, social, and religious challenges at the start of the twenty-first century.