Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN is trying to turn its ceasefire diplomacy into something more durable than a brief pause in shelling. - Deployed observer teams after brokering December 27 ceasefire; held emergency foreign ministers meeting December 22

A new ceasefire signed on December 27 has brought an uneasy pause to three weeks of fighting that killed more than 100 people and sent over half a million fleeing from their homes. Thai airstrikes, Cambodian rocket barrages and artillery duels scorched the 817‑kilometer frontier after combat reignited on December 8, shattering Trump‑brokered peace deals from July and October. The December war proved deadlier and more disruptive than July's four‑day clash, with Thai jets hitting deeper into Cambodia and both sides digging in along multiple fronts.

Updated Jan 8

Ten-nation bloc that's struggled to enforce peace between two of its members. - Deploying observer teams while China offers alternative mediation framework

A Cambodian soldier died in a border firefight on May 28. Within two months, the countries were exchanging artillery fire and airstrikes across a dozen locations. Three ceasefires later—brokered by Malaysia, pressured by Trump, witnessed by ASEAN—over 100 people are dead and a million displaced. The latest truce, signed December 27, holds the same promise as the ones before it.

Updated Dec 28, 2025

ASEAN is the primary regional forum for political and security cooperation in Southeast Asia, including mechanisms for managing interstate disputes between member states. - Mediating and providing diplomatic framework for ceasefire

In 2025, a long-simmering territorial dispute along the 817 km Thailand–Cambodia border reignited into the region’s most serious interstate conflict in years. A fatal clash on May 28 that killed a Cambodian soldier in a disputed area near Preah Vihear was followed by landmine incidents and escalating skirmishes, culminating in a five-day war in July that killed at least 48 people and displaced about 300,000 civilians before a ceasefire was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim mediating under ASEAN’s umbrella.

Updated Dec 11, 2025