31 July 2007: ASEAN explained

Politicians love their acronyms, and nowhere is this more evident than at the ASEAN. There is AIDA, FANS, AASROC, ELTO and an entire blizzard of obscure acronyms; so many, indeed, that the organisers of this weeks ASEAN meeting have given journalists a cheat-sheet listing all of the most widely used terms. The full list -- from AADCP to ZOPFAN -- is on the official ASEAN website, where there are 244 acronyms beginning with "A" alone.

There are even acronyms composed of acronyms. The AADCP is the ASEAN Aquaculture Development and Coordinating Programme.

ASEAN, by the way, is the Association of South East Asian Nations.