ASEAN- A Regional Trade Pact Model for States in the Global South

States in the Global South have long suffered economic developmental challenges in large part due to an inequality in their respective bargaining power and influence with states from the Global North. This article examines the success enjoyed by the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN), formation of a regional trade pact. ASEAN formed an association that eschews the centralized management and erosion of sovereignty traps that plagued and hampered other regional trade pacts such as the European Union. As a result, during the past forty years ASEAN enjoyed significant progress in international trade along with consequential benefits such as reduced poverty and high literacy rates. The states in the Global South can form their own regional trade pact modeled on the ASEAN structure and implement a long-term plan to achieve economic success in the global trading arena