SEATO PART OF is an acronym for the Southeast ASIA Treaty Organization, which was a military alliance formed in 1954 by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand). The two crossword solutions, ASIA and EAST, refer to the geographical region in which SEATO was active. SEATO was created to protect the countries of Southeast ASIA from the spread of communism during the Cold War.