Foreign Relations of The United States - Southeast Asia

The U.S. welcomed Brunei Darussalam's full independence from the United Kingdom on January 1, 1984, and opened an embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan on that date. Brunei opened its embassy in Washington, D.C. in March 1984. Brunei's armed forces engage in joint exercises, training programs, and other military cooperation with the U.S. A memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation was signed on November 29, 1994. The Sultan of Brunei visited Washington in December 2002.

The political relationship between the United States and Burma worsened after the 1988 military coup and violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations. Subsequent repression, including the brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors in September 2007, further strained the relationship.

The Philippines and the United States have a long standing alliance. The Philippines was also a US colony from 1902-1946. The Philippines is also the oldest and one of the closest US allies in Asia.

The US and the Philippines have fought together in many conflicts such as World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Islamic insurgency in the Philippines, Gulf War and the War on Terror.

The Philippines and the United States still maintain close, friendly, diplomatic, political and military relations with 100,000+ US citizens and nationals living in the Philippines and more than 2 million Filipinos living in the United States. Both countries actively cooperate in the trade, investment and financial sectors. The US is also the largest investor in the Philippine economy with an estimated total worth of $63 billion.

The United States and the Philippines conduct joint military exercises called the Balikatan Exercises that take place once a year to boost relations between the two countries. The US military also conduct humanitarian and aid missions in the Philippines. The Philippines is one out of two Major US allies in South East Asia.

After a 20-year hiatus of severed ties, President Bill Clinton announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam on July 11, 1995. Subsequent to President Clinton's normalization announcement, in August 1995, both nations upgraded their Liaison Offices opened during January 1995 to embassy status. As diplomatic ties between the nations grew, the United States opened a consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam opened a consulate in San Francisco.