The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was designed in 1996 to bring Asia and Europe closer together. This collection brings together the discussions from the eighth annual ASEM summit held in October, 2010. Renowned academics and seasoned observers of Asia-Europe relations provide analysis and essential insights into the advantages and limitations of contemporary ASEM affairs, their most pertinent issues, and the role of ASEM in the development of new global governance. Written from an insider's perspective, this important book offers a profoundly multidisciplinary perspective on the way globalization is shaping national interest strategies across two continents.

This edited volume examines contemporary relations between Europe and Asia through the prism of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEM is an informal forum for dialogue and cooperation between 53 partners from both regions. Having started in 1996, ASEM aims to enhance political dialogue, strengthen economic cooperation, and promote socio-cultural exchange. The book provides insights into past achievements, current challenges, and possible new directions for ASEM as a dialogue forum. The chapters focus on institutional design, the security agenda, economic cooperation, and cultural exchange and civil society outreach through the Asia-Europe Foundation. They also zoom in on ASEM’s Parliamentary Partnership, and the ongoing challenge of public awareness and visibility. Furthermore, they critically examine the implications of the widening process, the attempts to reinvigorate the forum, and the varied perspectives on ASEM’s value for both regions. Appealing to policy-makers, researchers, and students, this volume provides an in-depth analysis of a wide range of issues relating to the role of ASEM in contemporary international relations.

Historical Dictionary of International Organizations in Asia and the Pacific, Second Edition covers global, international, and regional organizations in Asia and the Pacific, and encompasses both governmental and non-governmental organizations. This second edition covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, thematic topics, and major international issues affecting the region. This book is a valuable tool for anyone seeking details about international organizations in Asia and the Pacific, and the international context within which those organizations function.

Is the EU able and prepared to deal with emerging Asia? Is an increasingly affluent Asia willing to engage with economically challenged Europe? This engaging volume presents the latest empirically informed comparative insight into how key Asian players imagine and perceive the EU before and after the Lisbon Treaty – as well before and after the outbreak of the Euro debt crisis. The result is a comprehensive overview of how these two continents engage and interact.

During the last two decades the study of European foreign policy has experienced remarkable growth, presumably reflecting a more significant international role of the European Union. The Union has significantly expanded its policy portfolio and though empty symbolic politics still exists, the Union’s international relations have become more substantial and its foreign policy more focused. European foreign policy has become a dynamic policy area, being adapted to changing challenges and environments, such as the Arab Spring, new emerging economies/powers; the crisis of multilateralism and much more. The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy, Two-Volume set, is a major reference work for Foreign Policy Programmes around the world. The Handbook is designed to be accessible to graduate and postgraduate students in a wide variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. Both volumes are structured to address areas of critical concern to scholars at the cutting edge of all major dimensions of foreign policy. The volumes are composed of original chapters written specifically to the following themes: · Research traditions and historical experience · Theoretical perspectives · EU actors · State actors · Societal actors · The politics of European foreign policy · Bilateral relations · Relations with multilateral institutions · Individual policies · Transnational challenges The Handbook will be an essential reference for both advanced students and scholars.

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.

As the world's most dynamic region, Asia embodies explosive economic growth, diverse political systems, vibrant societies, modernizing militaries, cutting-edge technologies, rich cultural traditions amid globalization, and strategic competition among major powers. As a result, international relations in Asia are evolving rapidly. In this fully updated and expanded volume, leading scholars from Asia, Europe, and North America offer the most current and definitive analysis available of Asia's regional relationships. They set developments in Asia in theoretical context, assess the role of leading external and regional powers, and consider the importance of subregional actors and linkages. Combining interpretive richness and factual depth, their essays provide an authoritative and stimulating overview. Students of contemporary Asian affairs—new to the field and old hands alike—will find this book an invaluable read. Contributions by: Amitav Acharya, Sebastian Bersick, Nayan Chanda, Ralph A. Cossa, Michael Green, Samuel S. Kim, Edward J. Lincoln, Martha Brill Olcott, T.V. Paul, Phillip C. Saunders, David Shambaugh, Sheldon W. Simon, Scott Snyder, Robert Sutter, Hugh White, and Michael Yahuda