Ernest John Deo Lopez ACT 223

Global Divide between the North and South—the simplest way to categorize the division
of wealth and living standards between members of society within countries all over the world.
An impeccable avenue that serves as a clear picture of the economic inequality that exists
between different societies in different regions. The distinction that this concept provides is
paramount in analyzing how countries under each category interact with each other, an activity
that countries do in order to cooperate and achieve a common goal. A way in which this is being
done is by engaging in what is called regionalism. An activity whereby nations cooperate and
integrate with each other by forming a system from which all of them will benefit. The global
north and global south countries, despite not being at the same level of economic standing, can
link together to work on a common goal, and the same goes for both global south countries. The
epitome of the latter can be attributed to ASEAN—cooperation of 10 countries considered as
part of the global south during the second half of the 20th century. Although some of its
members have now migrated from the said category of being a global south country like
Singapore and Indonesia, before the advent of the 21st century, this organization is an
impeccable example of what can be called as cooperation between global south countries.
Hence, this is what the focus of this paper will be.

ASEAN, before the entrance of the 21st century, is an international organization that can
be regarded as an outstanding instance of regionalism between global south countries. It brings
together global south countries located in the same region—i.e. South-East Asia—whose main
goals are founded on their desire to increase the living standards of their country’s citizens. They
aim to do this by integrating with each other and boosting their economies and augmenting their
security. This kind of cooperation has resulted in much stronger countries within the borders of
south-east Asia, which even paved the way for the development of what are now considered
“developed” countries in the region such as Singapore and Indonesia. This cooperation can be
applied on a global level, in that, it allows ASEAN’s member countries to coordinate with other
countries beyond the limit of its member states as much stronger countries that can participate
while having a bigger impact. This is due to the fact that ASEAN strengthens member countries’
economies, which may open a market of opportunities that may facilitate the increase of
globalization.