Brunei joined ASEAN on January 7, 1984--1 week after resuming full independence --and gives its ASEAN membership the highest priority in its foreign relations. Brunei joined the UN in September 1984. It also is a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Brunei hosts the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2000.

Disputes - international: possibly involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of China on Taiwan, and Vietnam; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands, but has not publicly claimed the island