What exactly is ASEAN? 🤔 🌏 58 years ago, on August 8, 1967, ASEAN was born in Bangkok, Thailand. 📸 You’ve probably seen the flags, the group photos, maybe even heard about trade deals. But ASEAN’s roots go way deeper than most textbooks or viral videos tell you. 📜 From ancient copperplates buried near Manila to Cold War rivalries and modern conflicts like in Myanmar and the South China Sea... the story of Southeast Asian unity is way more complicated (and way more important) than you think.