The European Union And Asian Countries

The relationship between Europe and Asia is of increasing importance in the twenty-first century. The challenges straddling the two continents include immigration, poverty, environmental degradation, terrorism, drugs, nuclear proliferation and internecine strife. This book explores the significance of Asia for Europe in general and the EU in particular, calling for a much more sophisticated mutual understanding. George Wiessala analyses the existing Asia Policy of the European Union, tracing its development over the past 30 years, to the 2001 publication of the new strategy document, "Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnership". He also looks in detail at the importance of ASEM, and at the relationship between the EU and the various regional bodies, especially ASEAN. The book goes beyond a practical analysis of the developing economic and political relationship between the two continents to explore cultural questions, and possible tensions between Asian and European values.

This unprecedented comparative study looks at the attitudes and citizens' perceptions of the EU in Asia, and, by 2009, has been undertaken in 12 research sites throughout Asia. In each locality, the project systematically assessed daily representations of the EU in reputable local news media, as well as the EU's imagery among the general public and the EU's vision among the national stakeholders and opinion leaders. Presenting the findings of this project, this book provides a systematic and detailed empirical insight into EU visibility in the public discourses of three Southeast Asian countries - Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines - the so-called "VIP". The data and analyses in this work cover 2008 and the first half of 2009, and it compares the findings with those published in Volume I, which examined the perceptions of the EU in China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.

This is the first book on Asian countries’ strategies towards the EU. Since the introduction of Common Foreign and Security Policy in 1993 and the publication of the EU’s first strategic document on Asia one year later, hundreds of books and journal articles have been dedicated to the study of the EU policies towards Asia as a whole, or to individual Asian countries. However, very few of these researchers ever intended to explore the strategies of Asian countries, and Asian leaders’ mindsets, vis-à-vis the EU. Quite often, the policies of Asian countries towards the EU were simply interpreted as responses to the EU’s actions in Asia. Having been passive players for decades, Asian countries are now increasingly willing to participate in the formulation of regional and global orders, for which they need to articulate their own strategies and the world needs to better understand their mindsets. In the past two years, in the framework of EU Centres in Asia-Pacific, some top Asian scholars on EU-Asian relations were brought together to debate the strategies of individual Asian countries towards the EU, and evaluate the EU’s actions in the region. In their eyes, the EU was interpreted as a normative power, a security player, a civilian promoter and a health-care supplier. Together, they aimed to establish some common rules for explaining Asian countries’ strategies towards the EU after in-depth study of the actions of individual countries in their bilateral relations with the EU. This book is therefore indispensable to any efforts to understand Asian leaders’ mindset in the EU-Asian relations and their strategies towards the EU in the twenty-first century.

This volume represents the first, in-depth, inter-disciplinary, analysis of the past, present and future of the European Union’s relations with countries, non-state actors and other partners across the Asia-Pacific region. The book is situated in the developing, interdisciplinary, discourse of EU foreign policy towards countries and regions across Asia, and it offers a research-led critique of the construction and the elements of the EU-Asia ‘political space’. Written by an international team of experts from both Asia and Europe, the volume investigates the historical and cultural background, as well as diverse representations and imaginations in regard to the Asia-Europe inter-continental dialogue. The book examines the varied patterns, policies and priorities of the contemporary political, economic and cultural relations linking the EU with its interlocutors in Asia. Moreover, this collection throws light on a selected number of issues pertinent to current EU-Asia interaction, such as human rights promotion, learning and educational exchange, and the role of the mass media in the construction of Asia-Europe relations. The twelve chapters in this book cover a wide scope of subjects, including the EU’s Relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the summitry of the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM), EU foreign policy choices in Asia and EU contacts with Central Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This text is of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers, the business community, decision-makers and practitioners in Politics, European Studies, Asia-Pacific Studies, International Relations, Law, Human Rights and Business Studies.

How are the rising mutual concerns of Asian and European countries shaping their approaches to the international order? Contributors to this volume discuss emerging critical issues in International relations, including the Indo-Pacific constructs, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the progress of established regional security mechanisms like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. They also compare western and non-western approaches to these issues, with a holistic perspective on the origins and evolutions of these approaches. Both the Indo-Pacific constructs and BRI present a remarkable set of opportunities for Europe as well as Asia. This book presents key implications of the changing politico-security dynamics in the two regions from the perspectives of both Asian and European scholars and theoretical traditions. A must-read for scholars of International Relations with a focus on relations between Asia and Europe.

This book examines the involvement of the European Union (EU) and China in Central Asia and critically assesses the implications this has for the region as a whole. The volume adopts a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from International Relations, EU Studies, International Economics, International Law, Sinology, and History. It concentrates on three thematic levels: (1) historical and contextual, (2) geopolitical and geo-economic, and (3) socio-cultural and institutional. Paying particular attention to the role of the EU and the factors driving the EU’s and China’s relations with Central Asia, it looks at how the Central Asian countries position themselves vis-à-vis China’s growing influence, and how the balance of power between China, Russia, and the EU plays out. Contributors also explore the important historical context of the ‘Silk Routes’, as well as of the erstwhile connection of the Central Asian states with the Soviet Union. Critically analysing the potential areas for collaboration and synergy between the EU and China, the book also discusses the extent to which they share a common ground in Central Asia that could serve as a basis for long-term cooperation. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of International Relations, Economics, Sinology, and History.

Escaping the economic and security-centered approaches, prevalent in contemporary U.S. debate the contributors explore political relations between the European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Their inter-disciplinary perspectives touch on domains such as security, comparative integration, human rights, energy.