Posted on: 16 July 2013
Relations between the EU and Asia were explored by policy makers, analysts and academics from Europe, Australia and Asia at a two-day symposium in Trinity College Dublin recently.
Hosted by Trinity College’s Institute for International Integration Studies in conjunction with the University of Melbourne, the conference focused on how the world’s major actors can work on global problems together.
Entitled, Drivers of Regionalism and Integration in Europe and Asia: Comparative Perspectives, the conference examined issues of global importance including: the potential for EU-style cooperation to work to tackle food challenges in Asia; factors that compel leaders to decide to go against nationalism to form regional alliances and the renewed interest of the US in becoming a security actor in Asia.
Symposium co-organiser Professor Louis Brennan, Director of the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin, commented: “This conference set out to explore what drives states to work together and why countries in a region with a past that is marred by conflict decide to work together?
“While a multiplicity of forces can be identified as drivers of regional integration, the role international business plays in shaping market conditions, trade and investment politics cannot be underestimated. Analysis of the interplay between international business and region building in East Asia indicates that multinationals are not merely a beneficiary of integration, they are a significant force in propelling forward the development of regionalism.”
Drawing on the experiences of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Professor Philomena Murray, symposium co-organiser and Associate Professor at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, highlighted how community building can only work effectively if there is trust and reconciliation between former enemy states in her presentation Drivers of Regional Integration: Some Comparative Considerations.
“Belonging to a regional community such as European Union or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is successful if it is based on trust and reconciliation. This, in turn, leads to enduring habits of cooperation. Community-building is the essential driver for region-building. The most important component of all is trust, and this must be based on a commitment to reconciliation. Despite its problems, the EU has managed to build this trust over 60 years, whereas in Asia, this remains a significant challenge.”
The Symposium was funded by a Jean Monnet grant from the European Commission with additional support from the Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin and the School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Melbourne.
Speakers and organisers of the Drivers of Regionalism and Integration in
Europe and Asia: Comparative Perspectives conference
