Southeast Asia Treaty Organization The South East Asia Treaty Organization ( SEATO ) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty , or Manila Pact , signed in September 1954 in Manila , Philippines . The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February 1955 at a meeting of treaty partners in Bangkok , Thailand . The organization ' s headquarters were also in Bangkok . Eight members joined the organization . Primarily created to block further communist gains in Southeast Asia , SEATO is generally considered a failure because internal conflict and dispute hindered general use of the SEATO military ; however , SEATO - funded cultural and educational programs left long - standing effects in Southeast Asia . SEATO was dissolved on 30 June 1977 after many members lost interest and withdrew . Origins and structure . The Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty , or Manila Pact , was signed on 8 September 1954 in Manila , as part of the American Truman Doctrine of creating anti - communist bilateral and collective defense treaties . These treaties and agreements were intended to create alliances that would contain communist powers ( Communist China , in SEATO ' s case ) . This policy was considered to have been largely developed by American diplomat and Soviet expert George F . Kennan . President Dwight D . Eisenhower ' s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ( 1953 – 1959 ) is considered to be the primary force behind the creation of SEATO , which expanded the concept of anti - communist collective defense to Southeast Asia , and then - Vice President Richard Nixon advocated an Asian equivalent of NATO upon returning from his late - 1953 Asia trip . The organization , headquartered in Bangkok , was created in 1955 at the first meeting of the Council of Ministers set up by the treaty , contrary to Dulles ' s preference to call the organization " ManPac " . SEATO was intended to be a Southeast Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) , in which the military forces of each member would be coordinated to provide for the collective defense of the members ' country . Organizationally , SEATO was headed by the Secretary General , whose office was created in 1957 at a meeting in Canberra , with a council of representatives from member nations and an international staff . Also present were committees for economics , security , and information . SEATO ' s first Secretary General was Pote Sarasin , a Thai diplomat and politician who had served as Thailand ' s ambassador to the U . S . between 1952 and 1957 , and as Prime Minister of Thailand from September 1957 to 1 January 1958 . Unlike the NATO alliance , SEATO had no joint commands with standing forces . In addition , SEATO ' s response protocol in the event of communism presenting a " common danger " to the member nations was vague and ineffective , though membership in the SEATO alliance did provide a rationale for a large - scale U . S . military intervention in the region during the Vietnam War ( 1955 – 1975 ) . Membership . Despite its name , SEATO mostly included countries located outside of the region but with an interest either in the region or the organization itself . They were Australia , France , New Zealand , Pakistan ( including East Pakistan , now Bangladesh ) , the Philippines , Thailand , the United Kingdom and the United States . The Philippines and Thailand were the only Southeast Asia countries that actually participated in the organization . Both shared a close tie with the United States , particularly the Philippines , and both faced incipient communist insurgencies against their own governments . Thailand became a member upon the discovery of the newly founded " Thai Autonomous Region " in Yunnan Province ( south China ) - apparently feeling threatened by potential Chinese communist subversion on its land . Other regional countries like Burma and Indonesia were far more minded with domestic internal stability rather than concern of communism threat , and thus rejected joining it . Malaya ( including Singapore ) also chose to not participate formally , though it was kept updated with key developments due to its close relationship with the United Kingdom . The rest of Southeast Asia ' s countries : Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos were prevented from taking part in any international military alliance as a result of the Geneva Agreements signed 20 July of the same year concluding the end of the First Indochina War . However , with the lingering threat coming from communist North Vietnam and the possibility of the domino theory with Indochina turning into a communist frontier , SEATO got these countries under its protection - an act that would be considered to be one of the main justifications for the U . S . involvement in the Vietnam War . Cambodia , however rejected the protection in 1956 . The majority of SEATO members however are not geographically presented in Southeast Asia region . To Australia and New Zealand , SEATO was seen as a more satisfying organization than ANZUS – a collective defense organization with the U . S . Great Britain and France joined due partly to the long maintained colonies in the region , partly to the concern over the development in Indochina . Pakistan , however , was simply interested for joining over the appeal of potential support for its long struggle against India . Last but not least , the U . S . A . upon perceiving Southeast Asia to be a pivotal frontier of the Cold War geopolitics saw the establishment of SEATO as essential to its Cold War containment policy . All in all , the membership reflected a mid - 1950s combination of anti - communist Western nations and such nations in Southeast Asia . The United Kingdom , France and the United States , the latter of which joined after the U . S . Senate ratified the treaty by a 82 – 1 vote , represented the strongest Western powers . Canada also considered joining , but decided against it in order to concentrate on its NATO responsibilities . Military aspects . After its creation , SEATO quickly became insignificant militarily , as most of its member nations contributed very little to the alliance . While SEATO military forces held joint military training , they were never employed because of internal disagreements . SEATO was unable to intervene in conflicts in Laos because France and Britain rejected use of military action . As a result , the U . S . provided unilateral support for Laos after 1962 . Though sought by the U . S . , involvement of SEATO in the Vietnam War was denied because of lack of British and French cooperation . Both the United States and Australia cited the alliance as justification for involvement in Vietnam . American membership in SEATO provided the United States with a rationale for a large - scale U . S . military intervention in Southeast Asia . Other countries , such as Great Britain and key nations in Asia , accepted the rationale . In 1962 , as part of its commitment to SEATO , the Royal Australian Air Force deployed CAC Sabre s of its No . 79 Squadron to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base , Thailand . The Sabres began to play a role in the Vietnam War in 1965 , when their air defence responsibilities expanded to include protection of USAF aircraft using Ubon as a base for strikes against North Vietnam . Cultural effects . In addition to joint military training , SEATO member states worked on improving mutual social and economic issues . Such activities were overseen by SEATO ' s Committee of Information , Culture , Education , and Labor Activities , and proved to be some of SEATO ' s greatest successes . In 1959 , SEATO ' s first Secretary General , Pote Sarasin , created the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering ( currently the Asian Institute of Technology ) in Thailand to train engineers . SEATO also sponsored the creation of the Teacher Development Center in Bangkok , as well as the Thai Military Technical Training School , which offered technical programs for supervisors and workmen . SEATO ' s Skilled Labor Project ( SLP ) created artisan training facilities , especially in Thailand , where ninety - one training workshops were established . SEATO also provided research funding and grants in agriculture and medical fields . In 1959 , SEATO set up the Cholera Research Laboratory in Bangkok , later establishing a second Cholera Research Laboratory in Dhaka , Bangladesh . The Dhaka laboratory soon became the world ' s leading cholera research facility and was later renamed the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research , Bangladesh . SEATO was also interested in literature , and a SEATO Literature Award was created and given to writers from member states . Criticism and dissolution . Though Secretary of State Dulles considered SEATO an essential element in American foreign policy in Asia , historians have considered the Manila Pact a failure and the pact is rarely mentioned in history books . In " The Geneva Conference of 1954 on Indochina " , Sir James Cable , a diplomat and naval strategist , described SEATO as " a fig leaf for the nakedness of American policy " , citing the Manila Pact as a " zoo of paper tigers " . Consequently , questions of dissolving the organization arose . Pakistan withdrew in 1972 after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 , in which East Pakistan successfully seceded with the aid of India . France withdrew financial support in 1975 , and the SEATO council agreed to phasing out of the organization . After a final exercise on 20 February 1976 , the organization was formally dissolved on 30 June 1977 .