Reorienting Interregional Co-operation in the Global Political Economy: Europe’s East Asian Policy*

This article offers a critical political economy analysis of the new engagement of Europe with East Asia formalized through the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) initiative. It does so by locating the significance of the evolving relationship in the context of the current debates on globalization and regionalization, and argues that posing issues in terms of ‘national’ versus ‘global’ overlooks a vital level of analysis, namely emerging interregional arrangements. The evolution of the EU’s policy towards Asia is described, and the factors that have delineated Europe’s new interregionalism are analysed. The article also examines the state of Asia–Europe relations in the context of the unfolding Asian economic crisis, and suggests that the current policy agenda should be understood as part of broader multilateral efforts to construct a ‘new architecture’ for global economic governance. GARETH A. RICHARDS