Paper Tiger - Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (Seato) as An Ineffectual Pact and Its Regional Political Impacts

Year 2019, ECONOMY&POLITICS SPECIAL ISSUE, 285 - 302, 30.12.2019

Süleyman Temiz

Abstract

There are not many academic studies on Southeast
Asian politics in our country. The most important reasons for this are the
geographical distance of the region to our country and the academic disinterest
of the researchers to this region. SEATO, which is in parallel with CENTO in
terms of the reasons for its establishment, is a US-supported defence pact
created in order to bring peace and stability to Southeast Asia. SEATO
was designed to combat riots and attacks stemming from communism in the Cold
War conjuncture in Southeast Asia. The Manila Treaty, which served as the SEATO
convention, was signed in 1954 by the United States, Britain, France,
Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines. After being
approved by all member states, in February 1955 he began active work as an
alliance. Throughout its twenty-two-year history, SEATO has achieved some
successes in regional peace, but has also suffered serious failures. Under
the SEATO umbrella, failure to take joint action against the communist threat
in Vietnam has made the alliance's confidence element fragile. SEATO's
inability to act with unity and determination, and political conflicts among
alliance members, adversely affected the future of the alliance. The
geographical distance between the member states of the Alliance, the loss of
the Vietnam War, along with the US willingness to act on its own, led SEATO to
become a low-profile security pact. In
this study, SEATO, which is one of the biggest factors that has deeply affected
Southeast Asia, is aimed to be better understood in our country and the
establishment, function and regional effects of this pact, which was created by
the initiatives of great powers, especially the USA, will be examined.

Keywords

SEATO, Southeast Asia

Kâğıt Kaplan- Zayıf Bir Pakt Olarak Güneydoğu Asya Antlaşması Teşkilatı (Seato) ve Bölgesel Siyasi Etkileri

Abstract

Güneydoğu Asya politiği hakkında ülkemizde çok
fazla akademik çalışma bulunmamaktadır. Bunun en önemli nedenleri arasında
bölgenin ülkemize olan coğrafi uzaklığı ve araştırmacıların bu bölgeye akademik
anlamda ilgisizliği gösterilebilir. Kuruluş sebepleri açısından CENTO ile
paralellik gösteren SEATO, Güneydoğu Asya Antlaşması Teşkilatı, Güneydoğu Asya'ya
barış ve istikrar getirmek amacıyla oluşturulmuş, ABD liderliğinde bir savunma
paktıdır. SEATO, Güneydoğu Asya bölgesinde Soğuk savaş konjonktüründe komünizm
kaynaklı isyan ve saldırılarla mücadele etmek için tasarlanmıştı. SEATO’nun ilk
adımı olan Manila Antlaşması 1954'te ABD, İngiltere, Fransa, Avustralya, Yeni
Zelanda, Pakistan, Tayland ve Filipinler tarafından imzalanmıştır. Tüm üye
ülkeler tarafından onaylandıktan sonra, Şubat 1955’te çalışmalarına
başlamıştır. Yirmi iki yıllık tarihi boyunca SEATO’nun bölgesel barışa yönelik
bazı başarıları olmakla birlikte ciddi başarısızlıkları da olmuştur. SEATO
şemsiyesi altında, Vietnam'daki komünist tehdide karşı ortak harekete
geçilmemesi ittifakın içerisindeki güven unsurunu kırılgan hale getiren bir olay
olmuştur. SEATO'nun birlik ve kararlılıkla hareket edememesi, ittifak
üyelerinin birbirlerine zıt çıkar çatışmalarına girmesi, ittifakın geleceğini
olumsuz yönde etkilemiştir. İttifak üyesi ülkeler arasındaki coğrafi uzaklık,
ABD’nin bölgede kendi başına hareket etme isteği ile birlikte Vietnam
Savaşı’nın kaybedilmesi, SEATO’nun düşük profilli bir güvenlik paktı haline
gelmesine neden oldu. Bu çalışmada, güneydoğu Asya’ya derinden etki etmiş en
büyük faktörlerden birisi olan SEATO’nun ülkemizde daha iyi anlaşılması
amaçlanarak, ABD başta olmak üzere büyük güçlerin girişimleriyle ortaya çıkan
bu paktın kuruluşu, işlevi ve bölgesel etkileri irdelenecektir.

Keywords

Güneydoğu Asya, ABD, Vietnam Savaşı, soğuk savaş

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