The ongoing debate and speculation whether Burma would, or should, assume the chairmanship of Asean next year has, in a way, served to highlight again the rich and sometimes threatening diversity of the regional grouping and its unique style of arriving at consensus.

In this context, there have been ad nauseam commentaries, since Asean's membership increased to 10, that it had become a two-tiered grouping of the 'more developed' original six (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) and the newer 'struggling' countries Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam - often known as the CLMV nations.

The message here was that the divide would contribute to greater administrative difficulties, including hammering out consensus.