MANILA, Philippines — Over the years, since its founding in 1967, the summit meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have come and gone, sometimes attracting Western media and political attention and often, not. Beginning as a modest regional grouping of five Southeast Asian countries, ASEAN meetings today have grown to include the world’s major powers. The ASEAN plus 3, meeting, for example, includes Japan, China, and South Korea. And now we have the East Asian Summit meeting which was held in Bali, Indonesia, on November 17-19th and was co-hosted by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and US President Barack Obama, with the leaders of Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Russia attending.

President Obama announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Manila recently, where she signed the Manila Declaration which reaffirms the 1951 Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty, would visit Myanmar next month. This will be the first visit by a US Secretary of State to Myanmar in 50 years.

Mr. Obama said that after “years of darkness, we have seen flashes of progress” in the reclusive country. A civilian government took over in March and democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her party have been allowed to participate in the next election. President Obama considers this development “a historic opportunity” to encourage democratic reform.

High on the list of subjects to be discussed at the East Asia Summit was the issue of the multiple claims to the Spratley Islands and South China Sea, an area of which China claims a majority.

Regional security was also on the agenda, with a strong US presence in the region promised to counter-balance China. Before reaching Bali, President Obama made a quick (48 hr.) visit to Australia where he met with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Canberra and spoke before the Australian Parliament, stressing America’s commitment to the region. While there, the President updated the US-Australia security agreement and made arrangements for 250 US Marines, Naval ships, and aircraft to be stationed there.

But the major item on this year’s agenda was the economy and working out suitable free trade agreements. With the rest of the world in economic decline, Asia, and especially Southeast Asia, is the major engine of economic growth in the world today.

While in Indonesia, the ASEAN leaders and their dialogue partners also signed the Bali Accord, an update of the original regional agreement signed in Bali in 1976, before ASEAN was established, adopting a tighter, more cohesive, and rules-based relationship on global issues of common interest. The original Bali agreement created the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which defined the fundamental principles of ASEAN, with respect for the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of each nation and the goal of living together in “a zone of peace.”