The European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

For about 500 years the world becomes more and more "global". During this period, tribes, local kingdoms, and small social communities formed powerful nations with huge armies and deadly weapons. On the other side, technical development has connected all parts of the world and led to prosperity and a better life in most countries. Nowadays, however, the world faces unprecedented challenges, among others:
• Peacekeeping
Nuclear weapons are a deadly threat to the existence of human beings.
• Fighting global threats to the environment
Climate change caused by global warming and life-threatening pollution of the environment, (particularly by pollution of the air, shortness of clean water and an accumulation of plastic waste in the ocean, etc.)
• International trade
The division of labor requires global markets but national egoism in the form of protectionism and new boarders jeopardize international trade.
• The exploitation of natural resources
The expansion of the exploitation of natural resources causes frequently not only threats to the environment and the livelihood of people in the affected areas but also triggers often conflicts between neighbor states or among rival groups in the region about the profits deriving from the exploitation of these resources.
All these problems cannot be solved by single states anymore. With the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations two groups of states try to meet these challenges together. But they have chosen different ways.
This book aims to provide an overview for students over the basic features of both international organizations and their similarities and differences. At the same time, it tries at the example of these organizations to help the readers better understand the reasons and justifications for different perceptions, values, approaches, and ways in the area of international cooperation.