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Regionalism in Europe and Asia after the Cold War

 

By Prof. Douglas Webber

Professor of Political Science

INSEAD

Fontainebleau, France

 The most powerful dynamic that has shaped the development of regional integration in Europe and Asia in recent times is the end or winding down of the Cold War. Despite the manifold divergences between European and Asian integration, this enormous geopolitical earthquake has confronted both regions with a range of fundamentally comparable challenges. This paper identifies five such challenges: changing regional distributions of power, democratisation pressures, accelerated economic globalisation, enlargement coupled with institutional reform, and US-led unipolarity in international (especially military) affairs. It discusses the nature and magnitude of these challenges, explores how regional organisations in the two continents have responded to them, and evaluates how overall the end of the Cold War has affected European and Asian regional (political) integration. It concludes that, while the end or winding down of the Cold War has naturally facilitated the geographic extension of integration processes, it has - particularly in Europe - heightened the obstacles to closer or "deeper" regional integration. Thus the impact of this turning-point in recent world political history on European and Asian regional integration has been highly ambivalent and it is by no means certain that we can look forward to a politically more highly integrated Europe or Asia .

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The Impact of Security Co-operation on the Regional Integration Process in Europe

 

May-Britt Stumbaum

Resident Fellow

German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

With security having been the raison d'être for European integration, functional co-operation in the field of security has developed into a major impetus for regional integration in the European Union (EU). The practical experiences made due to the helplessness when being divided e.g. in the run-up to the Iraq war, but also during the EU's missions starting in 2003, have constituted a driving force for policy-making and further institutionalisation and hence regional integration in the field of security.

Ongoing co-operation is leading to an increasing convergence of threat perceptions, but also of strategies and doctrines, reflected in similar security concepts all over Europe . Practical experiences made on the ground during the EU missions that started with the Congo mission in 2003 led to a progressing harmonisation of processes across the EU member states and a further institutionalisation in the field of security policy. With security being the foundation for the EU's continuing prosperity, functional co-operation has not only turned out to be the only way to go in this very sensitive, jealously guarded policy field by nation states, but has also been leading to further regional integration in the security field and hence for further regional integration in Europe.

The following article will shed light on the impact of functional co-operation on regional integration in Europe. After a short historical overview over the basis of security co-operation in Europe, the article will focus on the experiences made within the framework of the EU's European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) that pushed for further evolution in this policy field as well as on the impact functional co-operation has been having on the development of further integration in European security and on regional co-operation.

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The EU through the Eyes of Asia : a comparative study of media perceptionsand public opinion in 2006

 

By Prof. Martin Holland and Dr. Natalia Chaban

National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE)

University of Canterbury

In late 2006, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)'s ESiA eMonitor published an interim report based on the first six months findings from the perceptions of the European Union (EU) in ESiA's "EU through the Eyes of Asia" project. This article updates the findings by presenting the media analysis for January-October 2006 as well as the preliminary results from the public opinion surveys conducted in November2006.

The research design for this project incorporates three phases undertaken in each of the chosen research locations - Thailand , South Korea , Singapore , Japan , Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and mainland China . The first phase explores images in the media (the focus of this updated article); the second phase involves a public opinion survey about attitudes towards the European Union (the preliminary findings of which are given in the second part of this article); while the third involves a series of interviews with political, economic and media elites (which will be undertaken in April 2007). It is assumed that newspapers are still a major source, indeed the major source for forming political ideas and information, in the regions we have examined. Television news is the most popular source of news for the general public worldwide. It can be debated whether the Internet will usurp these features eventually, requiring a different methodology in a few years time, but in 2006 for the cases examined, newspapersand television, and not the Internet, remain the dominant information medium for Asian civil society.

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The European Union through the Eyes of Asia: a comparative study of media perceptions

 

Prof. Martin Holland

Director

National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE)

University of Canterbury

In 2005, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) initiated ESiA - a network of European Studies in Asia. The motivation was pragmatic and sought to redress an apparent imbalance. Whilst within the European Union (EU) there are already a number of credible institutes that focus on Asia and Asian affairs, in Asia , there are very few comparable institutes that examine the EU and European studies.

In a serious effort to reinvigorate European studies institutions in the Asian region, one of the first activities of the ESiA network was to undertake a comparative trans-national empirical project on how the EU is perceived in Asia, in a partnership with Fudan University (China), Hong Kong Baptist University, Keio University (Japan), National University of Singapore, Korea University and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).

This choice of topic reflected the reality that reliable knowledge did not exist hitherto: the information available tended to be impressionistic, some comparatively convincing, some seemingly implausible, but completely lacking hard, empirical evidence on how exactly Asian citizens and the media saw the EU. For all of the regions examined in this project - Mainland China , Hong Kong , Japan , Singapore , Korea and Thailand - the EU represents either a significant, or the most significant economic relationship and is increasingly emerging as a significant political and security dialogue partner. This article presents selected interim empirical findings from this ESiA research project, examining the perceptions of the EU in Asia , in particular, how the media represents the EU and how this is translated into the images and perceptions citizens hold towards the EU.

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Note from editor: As part of the 17th ASEF Lecture Tour, Prof. Martin Holland delivered this paper in Paris, Preston (UK), Ulster (Northern Ireland), Bristol (UK), Pamplona (Spain) and Brussels. Click here find out more about  this and other outputs under ASEF's Cultures and Civilisations Dialogue Programme.

 

The new German European Policy: Challenges to Decentralised EU Policy Coordination


Ms. Christiana Tings

Fellow

Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI)

Germany

Introduction: A new German EU policy?
The inauguration of a new government gives the unique opportunity for political renewal. This could also hold true for the German policy towards European integration and the European Union (EU). A grand coalition consisting of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social-Democratic Party (SPD) came to power in November 2005. Within the theoretical framework of continuity and change of German foreign policy this paper compares the German EU policy during the mandate of Gerhard Schröder (SPD) and Angela Merkel (CDU), substantiated by possible institutional amendments. Does the change of government entail a new German EU policy?

Traditionally, the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany is marked by a high degree of continuity and reliance on European cooperation. The former coalition consisting of the SPD and the Green party introduced a pragmatic approach towards the EU and on the international stage. Chancellor Schröder pursued a new style of governance that was more self-assured and stressed national interests. This also influenced the substantive German EU policy. How does the current government address the dichotomy between traditional support for European integration and new pragmatism?

Formally, the Chancellor and the Cabinet set – based on party decisions – the policy guidelines of the German government. However, in contrast to international relations theories that often solely focus on national interests, institutions play a decisive role in the German interaction with the EU. This is called the supremacy of procedures over policies and has been criticised in the past. Germany’s ability to act, its EU capability, is decisive for the nation’s effective representation and the future development of the whole Union. Especially during Germany’s EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2007, the first to be organised in a triplet of states (Germany – Portugal – Slovenia), this will be tested. Did the change of government affect the coordination mechanisms or is Germany’s EU capability constrained by institutionalised continuity?

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Note from editor: This paper was first published on the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) website. All views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.

 

Europe and China in the 21 st century: a symphony of civilizations?

 

By Prof. David Gosset

Director

Academia Sinica Europaea

China Europe International Business School

China

It is the studio of an artist in 17th century Netherlands. In the foreground there is a tapestry, an empty chair and a table. Further, a seated painter is trying to catch the essence of his model, a demure young woman, Clio, the Greek muse of history. On the wall, as a backdrop, a large map of the Seventeen Provinces printed in Amsterdam.. The scene is quiet but inspiring. Vermeer's Art of Painting is open to interpretations. With Clio and a map as key elements of the composition, Vermeer represents the interplay between history and geography but, more fundamentally, the interaction between time and space. However, Clio is the Dutch Golden Age painter's main focus. Even if both time and space are conditions of human experience, history is well and truly alive in Vermeer's allegory. This living presence of history is a differentiating factor between, on one side, Europe and China and, on the other, the U.S. : while the two old worlds carry ancient memories, the American spirit, always on the move for new frontiers, has relatively less historical depth.

Used to innumerable discourses on the differences between the West and the East one is not prepared to recognize two facts. First, although Europe and China have been slowly elaborating two distinct civilizations, they can not be absolutely separated. Having in common long maturations over millenniums the two old worlds have developed affinities, and, despite all the exotic representations, the two edges of Eurasia are closer than it seems. Second, one should not reduce the West to America : the U.S. which from a colony has been rising to the rank of global hyperpower in only 230 years is very singular and is culturally departing from its European foundation. "The reasons for the transatlantic divide are deep, long in development, and likely to endure" writes Robert Kagan ( Paradise and Power , 2003). While we would disagree with the Washington based analyst on the causes of the Atlantic divide, we strongly converge to observe the divisive trend.

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EU Enlargement: A Chinese Perspective

By Prof. Liu Ji

Honorary President

China Europe International Business School, Shanghai

Referring to the European Union (EU) enlargement, we cannot but firstly mention the unification of Europe, because both are inseparable. The initial establishment of the EU was simply for the purpose of expanding markets for further development of the economy and trade. However, this historic process has increasingly highlighted the "European unification" proposition and its importance.

Economic globalisation has become an irresistible historic trend in the 21st century. Considering that economic progress always fuels other aspects of development, in the context of furious competition in economic globalisation, regional economic amalgamation and integration proved an inevitable tendency and closely linked to them are the integration of politics, sciences and education. Therefore, in a Europe that has been part of this historic process of economic globalisation and has become a formidable engine of economic growth in modern times, a constant move toward greater unification is natural. 

Moreover, since the end of the Cold War, the United States (US) has emerged as the only world superpower and has dominated international affairs with its unrivaled political, economic and military strength. A unified Europe is largely perceived as the only voice strong enough to counter these hegemonic tendencies. In other words, unification is a broad road for European countries to peace, development and joint prosperity, as well as the only way for Europe to continuously make greater contribution to humankind.

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European Integration: Challenge and Response: Crises as Engines of Progress in European Integration History

 

By Prof. Ludger Kühnhardt

Director

Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI)

Germany

I.
Given all aspects and developments of its current path, the European Union (EU) seems to discover its opportunities and encounters its global challenges in a way that reminds me of the work of Henry the Navigator in the 15th century: He sailed around Cape Bojador with hesitance, limited knowledge and caution, without clear goals and yet with curiosity to learn what might lie behind the Cape. In the 15th century, Europe brought about the first wave of globalisation. In the early 21st century, it seems to be the other way around: Globalisation seems to slowly bring about a new rationale for European integration as it forces the EU to learn faster, to look further and to come together more convincingly. This, however, seems to happen only through the medium of crises and the rhetoric of failure. Not only the EU’s foreign policy, as Jan Zielonka has so aptly shown in one of his fine publications, is full of paradoxes. Obviously, most of European integration is driven by the dialectics of paradox and crisis.

The criteria to measure the degree of a crisis can only be found in the declared political objectives of the EU leadership as expressed in the subsequent series of treaties, in legislation and legal review by the European Court of Justice(ECJ) as well as in the declaratory ambitions related to EU Summitry and statements by the European Parliament. As for a concise definition of “crisis”, it seems appropriate to distinguish between “crisis of integration” and “crisis in integration”: While the first type of crisis is of a principal nature and challenges the very existence or at least the rationale of integration, the second type of crisis is related to difficulties in implementing certain policy objectives or goals without implying that the failure in achieving any of these objectives could derail the integration process as such or unravel its rationale and legitimacy. While I cannot contribute to a scientific model of how the EU will react to presumptive future crises, and while I will not deny the overstretch of crisis talk in media and academia - which seems mostly to be related to gaps between (subjective and objective) integration expectations and (subjective and objective) implementation failure – I suggest to add the notion of crises as engines of integration to our consensual list of lessons learned when studying European integration.

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Preparing the Union for Enlargement? The Future of the Constitution for Europe

 

By Dr. Andrea Ott

University Lecturer in European Law
Maastricht University

The Netherlands

Abstract

The “Copenhagen criteria”, adopted in 1993, not only set forth significant steps other European countries would need to take in order to join the European Union (EU), but also mandated that the EU itself modify its existing structure. That structure was intended for an original six member states configuration and a common market, but had grown to a Union of 25 members involving diverse policies. However, only very modest change was achieved, and the process suffered an extreme setback when referenda in France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed “Constitutional Treaty” in 2005.

The initial purpose for modification had been to clarify existing competencies between member states and the Union, as well as editing the policies and aims of the latter. However, during the drafting process, the public at large received very little information about what was actually being debated, and when the word “Constitution” became attached to the end result, some feared a “superstate”. One of the major goals of the reform had been to bring citizens closer to the Union, but, ironically, considerable confusion and widespread misunderstanding ensued.

The Constitutional Treaty nonetheless represented a clear step forward in simplification: it merged relevant treaties, protocols and amendments into one single document. By necessity, though, it also addressed contentious issues, such as the size of the European Parliament and Commission, and weighted and qualified-majority voting in the Council.

The initial rejection of the Constitutional Treaty has caused a period of intense reflection, with some feeling that the EU provides a remedy for all ailments of the nation-state, while others see it as a distant force of power and decision making. There are also divided opinions on whether, and to what extent, the original proposed constitution should be renegotiated or reintroduced, and uncertainty as to the best time for any such resubmission.

In the meantime, various options are under consideration. Some concern all 25 member states, while others concern “willing member states”—discussed under the labels of “Europe at different speed” or “enhanced co-operation”. However, none seem legally and/or politically feasible. While from a legal standpoint a European “constitution” exits, with or without a Constitutional Treaty, serious uncertainty exists about the future of the EU. This is due because it is an entity that reflects the member states’ own uncertainties and disagreements on the future of the Union, as well as their alienation with what their citizens expect and want from their respective governments.

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Note from Editor: This article was previously published in the academic journal Language and Intercultural Communication (LAIC). Ms. Giorgia Aiello presented part of her doctoral research based on this article during the Network of European Studies Centres in Asia (NESCA) Second Workshop "The EU´s New Identity and Its Perception in Asia: Responding to the 7th Framework Programme 'Europe in the World'", on 27-29 July hosted by the National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE), University of Canterbury.

Click here to subscribe to LAIC.A reduced price for institutional subscriptions are offered to universities in countries that are classed as 'medium' on the UNDP HDI.

 

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