Comparative Regionalism: The Logic of Governance in Europe and East Asia
This chapter discusses the logics of regionalism in Europe and Asia, comparing European institutional governance with East Asian cultural/ethical governance. It notes that these are not antinomies: both rules and culture are used by those in power to regulate not just what people can do, but what they can be. Where Europeans and Asians differ first is in the sequencing of these alternative logics. Europeans have got themselves in a position where the ethics and culture of being ‘European’ are largely interpreted in the context of institutional conformity. Asians conversely regard institutional conformity as threatening and privilege regional arrangements that defend ethical and cultural integrity. Europe's supranational politics operate from the centre to the periphery; Asia's transnational politics operate from the periphery to the centre.