The Organization of African Unity (OAU), the League of Arab States (Arab
League), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were all
established as post-colonial projects with the explicit aim to safeguard state
borders and shield sovereign governments from external interference. Yet,
their approaches to regional interference in domestic affairs have with time
taken on different trajectories. This working paper traces the present
diversity in regional approaches to negative sanctions against members back to
formative events in the early days of regional cooperation. All three
organizations had to confront political problems of substantial regional
weight at an early stage: the OAU the apartheid regimes in Southern Africa,
ASEAN the Vietnam War, and the Arab League the creation of the state of
Israel. The analysis demonstrates that the concepts of the region the
organizations articulated as they dealt with these problems continue to inform
present positions on involvement in domestic affairs
