Europe and Southeast Asia: ASEAN-EU Interregionalism between Pluralist and Solidarist Societies

Abstract

This article examines ASEAN-EU relations using the framework of international society of the English School. Specifically, it attempts to examine the utility of pluralist and solidarist conceptions of international society in understanding the nature and dynamics of ASEAN-EU relations and the ASEM process. It argues that interregional relations between ASEAN and the EU have for the most part been determined by their identities as pluralist and solidarist societies, respectively, which is clearly manifested in their different perspectives and approaches on political, economic, and security issues. The EU is primarily considered a strategic partner of ASEAN in the latter's attempt to balance its relations with other external powers, particularly in dealing with rising power like China. However, their partnership remains narrow and shallow even as the EU is perceived mainly as a donor to ASEAN's socioeconomic development goals.

Regions in International Society. The English School at the Sub-Global Level

“…From a system of societies, it is as if we had moved to a society of societies or, to use an expression dear to the ES, to a second-order pluralism . Therefore, with respect to the past, it is noteworthy that the new regionalisation of the ES opens avenues for more substantial comparative work across several regional international societies, on their degree of institutionalisation, on the similarity or differences with respect to shared norms, rules and institutions, on what happens when pluralist international societies meet more solidaristic ones (Morada 2012), or on how the same institution has been interpreted in different ways in two or more regional societies (on sovereignty, for example, see Cummings and Hinnebusch 2011).…”

Research on the Divergent Path of Integration Between EU and ASEAN

“…The research added these terminologies to the terms of the contract, including a political leader who understood the benefits and was willing and able to do the job. Morada believed that the combination of these factors ultimately created the right conditions for European integration and that not all of these factors were present in ASEAN, which slowed the integration process [13].…”