A question on ASEAN stumped Pete Hegseth at his Senate hearing. Why is it so important?
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee, appeared stumped when asked about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
BANGKOK — Sen. Tammy Duckworth, grilling President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary over whether he had the “breadth and depth of knowledge” needed to lead international negotiations, asked Pete Hegseth if could name one member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, describe what type of agreement the U.S. had with the countries and how many nations were in the bloc.
Hegseth responded at the heated Senate confirmation hearing that he couldn’t tell Duckworth the exact number of ASEAN nations, but that “I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan, and in AUKUS with Australia,” referring to a pact among the U.S., Australia and Britain.
“None of those three countries are in ASEAN,” responded Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois. “I suggest you do a little homework.”
ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. An 11th country, East Timor, is set to join soon.
Established in 1967, its goal is to promote regional economic and security cooperation, leveraging a combined population of more than 650 million people with a GDP of more than $3 trillion.
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