Normative Power in the EU and ASEAN: Why They Diverge

Abstract

The European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aspire to two different types of normative roles in their foreign relations, which reflect the different contexts and goals of their socialization frameworks. The EU, which can collectively count itself as a contemporary great power, seeks a normative role aiming to engage smaller players, often with serious domestic problems. By contrast, ASEAN—essentially a group of relatively weak states—is located in an area where its own security depends on the competition between great powers. Although the EU employs its normative power primarily to shape the political preferences of its neighboring small states and thus construct a normative hegemon in the European periphery, ASEAN’s normative influence is more concerned about intervention by the great powers of Asia. Although the EU model has dominated the discourse of normative power, the normative practice of ASEAN may be more relevant to the developing world facing great powers or a regional hegemon.