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2018 | Buch

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Inter-Regional Relations and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)

herausgegeben von: Bart Gaens, Gauri Khandekar

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This edited volume examines contemporary relations between Europe and Asia through the prism of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEM is an informal forum for dialogue and cooperation between 53 partners from both regions. Having started in 1996, ASEM aims to enhance political dialogue, strengthen economic cooperation, and promote socio-cultural exchange. The book provides insights into past achievements, current challenges, and possible new directions for ASEM as a dialogue forum. The chapters focus on institutional design, the security agenda, economic cooperation, and cultural exchange and civil society outreach through the Asia-Europe Foundation. They also zoom in on ASEM’s Parliamentary Partnership, and the ongoing challenge of public awareness and visibility. Furthermore, they critically examine the implications of the widening process, the attempts to reinvigorate the forum, and the varied perspectives on ASEM’s value for both regions. Appealing to policy-makers, researchers, and students, this volume provides an in-depth analysis of a wide range of issues relating to the role of ASEM in contemporary international relations.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The introduction to this volume starts by pointing out the global weight of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an interregional forum currently including 53 partners. The chapter describes why Asia-Europe relations continue to perform below their potential, and frames ASEM’s external criticism and internal hurdles in this context. In spite of numerous challenges, the chapter argues that ASEM, after two decades, remains important. It functions as a mirror of Asia-Europe relations and as a signpost of transforming interregionalism. It is also a global forum in which the USA is absent, and it is gaining importance as a gathering of not only political leaders, but also businesspeople, academic communities, civil society representatives and NGOs, parliaments, labor fora, and youth. The introduction ends with a short outline of the themes and objectives of each chapter in this volume.

Bart Gaens, Gauri Khandekar

Chapter 2. Two Decades of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)

Abstract

This chapter provides the overall framework for the more detailed discussion of the themes dealt with in other chapters. It starts with a cursory overview of the evolving breadth of issue areas ASEM has aimed to tackle in the course of two decades. It thereafter looks at the particularities of ASEM’s institutional design, in order to explain the “ASEM Way,” marked by a focus on informality, consensus, and dialogue. The chapter sketches ASEM’s changing contours as an interregional forum. Looking to the future, the analysis singles out the tension between informality and institutionalization, and the different opinions on whether to prioritize dialogue or tangible outcomes, as two of ASEM’s key internal challenges.

Bart Gaens

Chapter 3. ASEM: Partnership for Greater Growth?

Abstract

This chapter explores the limited progress made in ASEM economic cooperation since the forum’s inception in 1996. It argues that ASEM’s economic pillar has drastically lost pace as compared to its initial years, even if Europe and Asia are each other’s largest external trading partners. The chapter explains the complexities of the current state of economic affairs between Europe and Asia, the shift in geoeconomic patterns in Asia, and demonstrates why the current level of bilateral trade between European and Asian countries is far from optimum. The final section looks at possible, new directions and shifts in focus that could help ASEM deliver better in its third decade.

Gauri Khandekar

Chapter 4. ASEM and the Security Agenda: Talking the Talk but also Walking the Walk?

Abstract

This chapter examines the security dialogue within ASEM. Security has certainly achieved a much more prominent position in the ASEM dialogue during the past decade. However, the chapter argues that there exists a strong discrepancy between the comprehensive security agenda and the pervasive dialogue taking place on traditional and non-traditional security issues on the one hand, and ASEM’s limited mandate and resources on the other. The author identifies a number of issues that explain the gap between inflated expectations and reality, and proposes a way forward based on realism and a more confined agenda.

Axel Berkofsky

Chapter 5. The Value-Added ASEM: The Socio-Cultural Dialogue

Abstract

Focusing on the role of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), ASEM’s only institution, this chapter scrutinizes the achievements of ASEM’s social/cultural dimension. It looks at ASEF’s history, development, and relation to the official ASEM process. The chapter analyzes the way ASEF has defined cultural cooperation, and critically evaluates the foundation’s role as a cultural broker. While highly appraising ASEF’s role in ASEM’s third pillar, the analysis also points out several weaknesses, challenges, and limitations that ASEF will need to address in the future. The chapter argues that ASEM draws its strengths from ASEF’s success, turning the cultural pillar into a “signature” inter-regional cooperation that buttresses ASEM’s relevance and sets it apart from other regional and transregional institutions.

Huong Le Thu

Chapter 6. ASEM and the People’s Involvement: A Focus on the Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP)

Abstract

This chapter examines the involvement of parliamentarians from Europe and Asia in the ASEM process, through their participation in the Asia–Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP). The analysis explores ASEP from a threefold perspective. First, it looks at the link with “the people” and ASEM’s democratic dimension, thereby contributing to the debate on democratic accountability and the so-called democratic deficit in regional and global governance institutions. Second, it assesses ASEP’s internal challenges and their relation to the official heads-of-state-and-government summits. Third, the chapter analyzes ASEP’s correlation with national parliaments and individual parliamentarians.

Silja Keva

Chapter 7. ASEM’S Media Exposure and the Promotion of Connectivity Between Asian and European Publics

Abstract

This chapter explores media and the general public, two important and interlinked stakeholder groups in the ASEM process. In general visibility and public awareness of ASEM remain low, in spite of several visibility-promoting efforts undertaken during the past 2 decades. Media attention has been declining and is often geared toward eye-catching bilateral meetings taking place in the sidelines of summits. More importantly, both mutual awareness and links between the people of Asia and Europe remain below par. An important socialization process involving both state and non-state actors does take place in ASEM, but it remains oriented toward elites. Looking at the future, the chapter argues that promoting a more correct understanding of what ASEM is and does, and expanding outreach beyond the elite level remain important tasks ahead.

Suet-Yi Lai

Chapter 8. Reinventing ASEM: A Need for Relevance

Abstract

The ASEM6 summit (Helsinki 2006) proposed the creation of a number of issue/interest-based groups of ASEM member countries to lead projects that could eventually involve others. Since then, 20 thematic areas have been outlined under which such “coalitions of the willing” could work. This chapter, however, argues that such an orientation threatens to further loosen an already disbanded association. The chapter argues that creating an ASEM center on urbanization and a center on human security and climate action could add much-needed relevance to a forum struggling to compete in a surfeit of regional fora.

Gauri Khandekar

Chapter 9. ASEM’S Process of Enlargement and Its Implications

Abstract

This chapter examines ASEM’s process of widening and the implications this has had on the forum. The chapter first provides an overview of the different stages of enlargement. It then looks at the formal rules for horizontal widening, and how they tie in with how regions are defined, what role is played by regional organizations, and how numerical balance between the two groupings in ASEM plays a role. Enlargement has had an undeniable impact on a number of issues, including on cooperation on the ground in the form of “issue-based coalitions,” and on coordination of the process resulting in attempts to streamline institutional mechanisms.

Bart Gaens

Chapter 10. ASEM for Europe: One Conduit Among Many

Abstract

This chapter examines European perceptions of and priorities for ASEM as a platform for interaction between Europe and Asia at both the inter-regional level and among the group of countries involved. The chapter critically examines Europe’s objectives for ASEM, including how it seeks to utilize it as a tool to engage with an economically strong region, as well as an instrument to address solve regional and global challenges. Although ASEM was recognized as a strategic requisite at its inception, this chapter assesses whether Europe still sees ASEM through the same lens.

Gauri Khandekar

Chapter 11. ASEM: An Asian Perspective

Abstract

This chapter geographically explores Asian nations’ perspectives vis-à-vis ASEM and examines their interactions with European counterparts. The chapter first builds on the more general perceptions Asian countries harbor toward Europeans and the EU, in particular, to contribute to a better understanding of Asian perceptions of ASEM itself. The chapter underlines that Asians in general appreciate the existence of ASEM as a dedicated platform for interaction with the EU (in particular). However, the broad conclusion reached by this chapter is that, from the Asian perspective, the strategic importance of ASEM as an operational forum remains significantly limited. The chapter argues that growing interdependence and interaction between Asia and Europe nonetheless beckon the development of ASEM into a more robust forum of “interaction and action.”

Roopmati Khandekar

Chapter 12. Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the key findings of this edited volume. At twenty years of age, ASEM stands at the crossroads. The chapter reiterates that ASEM remains a highly needed forum, in view of the forum’s institutional development, the broadened contours and implications of interregionalism, and the changing international environment. Nevertheless, the chapter argues that a more focused agenda with result-oriented goals, further efforts to promote the involvement of all stakeholder groups beyond the elite level, and a more dedicated engagement between European and Asian countries in ASEM are all vital tools in bringing the envisaged “Partnership for the Future through Connectivity” to fruition during ASEM’s third decade.

Bart Gaens, Gauri Khandekar

Backmatter

Titel: Inter-Regional Relations and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
herausgegeben von: Bart Gaens
Gauri Khandekar
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-137-59764-9
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59763-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59764-9