Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

conquering force—and their enemies (Jews). In this way they created a dichotomy that
they perceived as constituting a battle between superior and inferior peoples. Thinking
such as this, though fictitious, thus made the adaptation of the Hindu swastika (i.e., the
wheel in motion, though the position of the feet is different) a powerful visual and graphic
reminder of the connection and furthered the Nazi philosophy, drawing upon Charles
Darwin (1809–1882) and others, as a biological conflict between two different orders
(“races”) of human beings, with disastrous consequences for the Jews.
ASEAN. An international organization whose focus is the region of Southeast Asia.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations was established on August 8, 1967, in
Bangkok, Thailand, by five states: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and
Thailand. Subsequently, five additional states joined ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam
(January 8, 1984); Vietnam (July 28, 1995); Laos and Myanmar/Burma (both July 23,
1997); and Cambodia (April 30, 1999). The association’s founding document, the
ASEAN Declaration, states that the assembled states “represent the collective will of the
nations to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint
efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity, the blessings of peace, freedom
and prosperity.” The key elements by which this is to be realized include nonintervention
in the affairs of member states; settlement of disputes in a peaceful manner;
renunciation of the use of force; and “mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty,
equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations.” Pursuant to ASEAN’s
promotion of peace and stability, it has overseen the establishment of a number of international
accords pertaining to a variety of regional issues. In 1992 ASEAN leaders
declared that the association should intensify the level of its dialogue on political and security
issues with other states in the Asia-Pacific region, and consequently, in 1994, the
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was established as a means to reach out to such states
(which include Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United States, China, Canada,
and Russia, among others). In 1997 ASEAN adopted a program called ASEAN Vision
2020, which aimed at creating closer economic integration within the region. The ambition
is to transform the area covered by the ASEAN states into a single economic powerhouse
by the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century. In its external relations, too,
ASEAN sees itself playing an increasingly important role in the future, though the earthquake
and tsunami that devastated much of the region on and after December 26, 2004, are
likely to result in some of ASEAN’s activities being cut back, perhaps for several years.
Asocials, Nazis’ Designation as. Asocials was the general Nazi term for those persons
declared outside the community of the Volk, the latter of which was used to indicate a
highly mystical understanding of membership. Asocials included criminals, prostitutes,
drug addicts, juvenile delinquents, homosexuals, vagrants, and the Roma peoples. The
Nazi orientation toward such persons was that their behaviors were genetically and
racially determined and, therefore, beyond correction. Once inside the concentration and
death camps, asocials were forced to wear black triangles on their clothing, whereas pink
triangles designated homosexuals and brown triangles designated Romas.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. See ASEAN.
Assyrian Genocide. The Assyrian genocide took place at the hands of the Young Turk
regime in the Ottoman Empire, alongside the Armenian genocide and the Pontic Greek
genocide that the Turks carried out during and after World War I. The Assyrians, an
ancient people inhabiting modern-day southeastern Iraq and northwestern Iran, refer to
ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE
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