Nicholas Farrelly: 50 years on, ASEAN remains disconnected from its people

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Leaders show a little solidarity at the opening of the 28th and 29th ASEAN summits in Vientiane on Sept. 6.

In the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is under renewed pressure to keep justifying its existence.

Next year it will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a group brought together under the trying conditions of the Cold War. In its initial incarnation, ASEAN united Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines in a joint quest to resist communist expansion.

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