(Archived document, may contain errors) No. 60 April 21, 1987 CHALLENGES TO 'THE U.S.-ASEAN QUASI-ALLIANCE INTRODUCTION They stretch along the rim of the Asian landmass and have become some of the world's most successful and prosperous developing countries. They are among the world's most anti-communist states and among America's most reliable friends, creating, in fact, a quasi-alliance. These are the six nations comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
In January 1968, a young Army engineer officer was on a flight destined to Vietnam for his yearlong assignment. But because of the Tet Offensive, the plane got diverted to