Regionalism, EuropeAsia

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Regionalism, Europe/Asia Higher Education
Susan Robertson U of Bristol WUN/CKS Horizons
Series Policy Futures in Higher Education
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• Outline
• Regionalism/inter-regionalism within the wider
  framework of globalisation
• Europe/Asia and the development of an imaginary
  of Europe in Asia
• Higher education as a strategy and mechanism for
  developing emerging regionalisms
• Possibilities and limitations of higher education
  as a vehicle for constructing regionalism

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Defining regionalism Refers to a formal process
of intergovernmental collaboration between two
or more states (Ravenshill, 2005). Regions are
social constructions, and can be viewed as a
particular scale of activity that is bounded
or has borders to define those in and those out
(Brenner, 2004) Bilateral agreements are also
considered as regional agreements by the WTO By
the end of 2002, there were more than 25
transregional and inter-regional agreements
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Why Regionalism? Political reasons economic
cooperation and confidence building, security,
bargaining tool, a means of locking in reform
satisfy domestic political constituencies, ease
of negotiating and implementing
agreements Economic reasons access to a larger
domestic market, attract additional foreign
direct investment (FDI), protect sensitive
industries, engage in deeper integration Cultural/
Political Forge an identity (cf. European
identity, African identity) on behalf of the
constituent nation
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First Phase of Regionalism
1940s Cold War regional blocs
Communist/West 1952 European Coal and Steel
Community 1957 Treaty of Rome created the
European Economic Community 1962 Organisation
for African Unity 1967 European Community with
its decisionmaking structures 1967 Assocation of
South East Asian Nations
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The Rise of New Regionalism/Inter-Regionalisms
Globalisation and regionalism appear to be
anti-thetical forces but currently one tends to
generate the other Regions are subjects of
globalisation (Dale and Robertson, 2002)
Regionalism is a means of harnessing pressures
of globalisation (Ravenhill, 200 A new
regionalism is emerging along with new forms of
inter-regionalism (eg.Asia-Europe, North
America-Asia) as means of countering regional
blocks
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Regionalisms
Between 1948-1994 there were only 124
notifications to the GATT of regional trading
agreements
Between 1995-2003 the WTO received a further
130, noting that ther were a further 75 pending
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New Regionalisms
Responses to globalisation 1989 APEC Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation 1992 EC/EU
Maarstrict Treaty 1991 Mercosur Souther Common
Market 1994 North American Free Trade
Agreement 2001 NEPAD New Partnership for African
Development
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EU
The European Union or EU is an intergovernmental
and supranational union of 25 European countries,
known as Member States. The European Union was
established in 1992 by the Treaty on European
Union (the Maastricht Treaty). However, many
aspects of the Union date back to 1951. The
European Union's activities cover all areas of
public policy, from health and economic policy to
foreign affairs and defence. The most important
EU institutions are the Council of the European
Union the European Commission the European
Parliament and the European Court of Justice
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ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is a political, economic, and cultural
organization of countries located in Southeast
Asia. Formed on August 8th 1967, by Thailand,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the
Phillipines as a non-provocative display of
solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam
and insurgency within their own borders.
Following the Bali Summit of 1976, the
organisation embarked on a programme of economic
cooperation, which floundered in the mid-1980's
only to be revived around a 1991 Thai proposal
for a regional "free trade area". The countries
meet annually.
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APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a
group of Pacific Rim countries who meet with the
purpose of improving economic and political ties.
It holds annual meetings in each of the member
countries and has standing committees on a wide
range of issues, from communications to fisheries
and education and training. Currently, most
countries (21 in all) with a coastline on the
Pacific Ocean are members of the organization
they include USA, Japan, Australia, Canada,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Russia,
Chile
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Early Europe-Asia Inter-Regionalism

• Europe-Asia are not strangers colonial presence
  e.g. Portugal and East Timor, Netherlands and
  Indonesia
• 1967-80 first phase of institutional contact
• 1980 Cooperation Agreement with ASEAN based on
  technical assistance, commercial and economic
  cooperation, institutionalised meetings.
• By 1990s, clear CA had weaknesses no budget,a
  trade rather than investment focus, development
  aid, and did not account for changes in global
  economy
• Concern that Japan and the USA were using APEC to
  position themselves within the region (Yang, 2001)

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Difficulties in Europe-ASEAN relationship
ASEAN-EEC largely a trade agenda, while Europe
tended to focus on own European project Europe
had not wanted to encourage ASEAN as a region,
but overlooked the emerging power of India and
China Differing views amongst EU member states as
to developments in Asia (Timor) But new political
agenda with EU Parliament promoting and defending
European values e.g. human rights, fair trade
EC, wanting to appear state like, was thus
obliged to embrace conditionality and fair
trade However, ASEAN regarded conditionalities as
controversial
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Creation of ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) 1996
Proposed by Singapore in 1994 as a means for
breaking the deadlock between ASEAN and Europe
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was officially
established in 1996 at the first summit in
Bangkok ASEM is an interregional forum which
consists of the European Commission and the
twenty-five members of the European Union (EU)
and of thirteen Asian countries (Brunei, Myanmar,
China, Combodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam). The main components of the
ASEM process, which has been relatively loosely
organized, include political dialogue, security
and the economy, education and culture
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Struggles between regional actors With the rise
of APEC, ASEAN became concerned with its
relatively diminished status, and it played an
active role in creating ASEM in order to keep
APEC in check. The creation of ASEM was amied not
only in promoting cooperation between ASEAN and
the EU, but also in preventing the US from
becoming a dominant force in the new
international order in the post Cold War
era (Yang, 2001 87)
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Developing an Imaginary of Europe in Asia
ASEM a means of promoting an imaginary of Europe
in Asia to maintain economic presence ASEM to be
a project of common grandeur Vehicle for
widening involvement and expanding cooperation in
new areas

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However ASEM, like ASEAN, has faced ongoing
tensions as human rights is excluded from
agenda (ASEM 2 1998 Spain, Greece, Denmark and
Sweden did not attend) ASEM 3 Seoul
demonstrations around ASEM as agent to neoliberal
globalisation
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Higher Education - A Means for Trade and Foreign
Policy Strategy
Mention of higher education - vehicle for
dialogue and exchange of knowledge and best
practice -EC 1994 Toward a New Asia Strategy
-EC 2001 Europe and Asia A Strategic Framework
for Enhanced Partnership Mention of higher
education above, as well as market for students
and promoting of WTO in Asia EC 2003 A New
Partnership with South East Asia EC 2005-2005
Strategy Paper and Indicative Programme for
Multi-Country Programmes in Asia
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Blairs (2005 3) EU Presidential Address  Our
university sector is not competing in the way in
which it needs to with America. China and India
are developing their university sector in an
extraordinary way Our proposal is that we task
the Commission specifically on coming back and
reporting to the European Council next year on
the challenge facing European universities how we
compete with the United States how we get more
public private partnership into sustaining them
and more graduate schools linking business and
the academic world across the European Union.
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Jose Manel Barosso (EC President) Todays
challenge is globalisation. Change technological
and societal, takes place at a breathtaking
speed. The question is whether to resist this
change or rather to manage it.
.Ive just come back from China and India and
what I saw was a vivid demonstration of the sheer
speed and scale of the changes going on in the
world. ..If Chinas new dynamism is driven by
manufacturing, then Indias comes from services.
India is tapping into a European, indeed global
demand, for efficient servicesthey increasingly
process the worlds tax returns, analyze the
worlds medical tests, respond to the worlds
telephone enquiries and design its software. We
must remain at the forefront through innovation
and investment in the knowledge economy.
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Higher Education Mechanisms/Instruments
HE to build awareness of Europe in Asia to enable
commerce to develop, enhance European FDI, and
partner in tackling global issues Asia-Link (set
up in 2002) is an Asia-wide programme (South
Asia, South East Asia, China) strengthen human
resourcesa nd promote networking between higher
education institutions in Europe and
Asia ASEANEU University Network Programme
focused on ASEAN members ASEF Asia-Europe
Foundation ASEM partners develop cultural
exchanges
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EC 2005-2005 Strategy Paper and Indicative
Programme for Multi-Country Programmes in Asia
(p. 22) Both Asia and Europe have top quality
institutions of higher education, but they do not
make sufficient use of their potential for
cooperation, Public intervention is necessary to
foster closer cooperation betwene the EU and
Asian institutions and help them learn form each
others know-how. The (Asia-Link) programme shall
target higher education groups and institutions,
scientific and research groups.
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EC 2005-2005 Strategy Paper and Indicative
Programme for Multi-Country Programmes in Asia
(p. 22) In order to improve EU visibilitya
limited number of key messagesthe messages
should include the promotion of scholarship
programmes which the Commission intends to set up
for Asia (Erasmus Mundus)for future decision
makers Indicative budget 25-35 Euro for
higher education (p.27)
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Asia-Link - specific aims Support sustainable
co-operation projects and multi-lateral
networking activities Promote exchange of
experiences and mobility and further training for
target groups Attract future economic and policy
decisionmakers for graduate studies to the
EU Encourage and develop links between European
and Asian institutions of higher
education Reposition Europe as a major partner in
higher education in Asia (and vice versa)
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Asia-Link Programme now has 126 projects for
funding for (i) human resource development, (ii)
curriculum development, (iii) institutional and
systems development (management structures) and
(iv) partnership projects (funding is on the
basis of 75 of eligible project costs,)
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• ASEAN-EU Universities Network Programme (AUNP
  Network Initiatives)
• 1 million Euro funding
• Asian-EU Rectors Conferences (sustainable
  development, borderless higher education)
• Roundtables (Quality Assurance, credit transfer
  systems)
• Technical Assistance missions (credit transfer,
  quality assurance)
• Follow-up meetings

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Tensions for Higher Education
National higher education institutions
increasingly caught up in scalar division of
labour of higher education (regional-inter-regiona
l) and a new inter-regional economy of knowledge
production As an instrument of foreign and trade
policy means that it is driven by different
logics (RD, science and technology prescriptions
for the competitive knowledge economy
Contradictions between politics taking place at
different scalar locations but which may produce
positive as well as negative outcomes As part of
the global circuit of cultural capital, HE
institutions faces pressures of competition
between blocs