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Originally Posted by ajaybhutani
i think Australis nd NZ are considered outside.
And about asian its just a economic block. No military cooperation there.
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I think for this discussion Australia and New Zealand should and are considered to be Asian members. You mentioned 'asian' but i'm guessing you meant ASEAN, which is more than just an economic block.
ASEAN also includes defence initiatives and targets as well as social and economic ones. Although you could argue that some of those above mentioned have varied importance. Security however, is a significant aspect of ASEAN, not just militarily but also politically and economically. This is because ASEAN is more of a reaction, or response to anglo (UK, Aus, NZ and US) and to a lesser extent European influence in the region. This is portrayed in the fully Asian (SE Asia and periphery) membership of ASEAN.
An important extension of ASEAN is the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which includes around 25 member states, roughly the same as APEC member states. The ARF is in no way an alliance, but more of an active forum/thinktank that deals in many issues that are considered to be modern securit issues. From traditional security to more abstract ones such as people, drugs and arms right down to disease control and customs issues (border control).
The ARF is designed to deal with the complications in the various issues of internatinal relations between the many and varied nations/cultures that occupy this part of the world. One of its great strengths that i can see is that it is an Asian or ASEAN inspired project, created to deal with our varied and contentious issues, and not a anglo/European inspired one.