A tale of two regional organizations

Writing in the Jakarta Post, a German minister ruminates on what the European Union and ASEAN have in common: The European Union (EU) and ASEAN are the most highly integrated regional organizations. While the EU may have served as an inspiration for Southeast Asian integration, it is clear that the “ASEAN way” will be different. ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Writing in the Jakarta Post, a German minister ruminates on what the European Union and ASEAN have in common:

Writing in the Jakarta Post, a German minister ruminates on what the European Union and ASEAN have in common:

The European Union (EU) and ASEAN are the most highly integrated regional organizations. While the EU may have served as an inspiration for Southeast Asian integration, it is clear that the “ASEAN way” will be different. ASEAN unites countries with very different historical, social and political backgrounds.

And despite the general dynamism in Southeast Asia, there is still a considerable “development gap“ between highly and less developed ASEAN member states. But ASEAN has made decisive steps forward towards its integration. This is probably most palpable in the economic sphere. There can be no doubt that ASEAN will eventually reach its goal of a common market.

As the European debt crisis simmers on, it would be interesting to know whether the EU’s attractiveness as a political and economic model has waned. 

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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