lecture tours         Ms. May-Britt Stumbaum
Beijing I Hanoi I Kuala Lumpur I Bangkok I Singapore

European Integration in the Field of Foreign and Security Policy

- a Model for Asia?

Challenges to security like international terrorism, illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking etc. are global problems and need global solutions. Asia and the European Union, facing similar problems, could gain massively in the field of foreign and security policy by cooperating, learning from each other and finding new solutions together. Laying out the conditions and characteristics of European integration in the field of foreign and security, this lecture aimed to trigger off a debate if the European model would be applicable to Asia and where common solutions could be found.

Although the world is increasingly more connected through the use and reliance on TV, radio and in particular, through the Internet, although a growing number of European and Asian citizens holiday in the other continent, manifold prejudices remain engrained in the mutual perceptions or populations. Even between Asian and European scholars, "stereotypical" perceptions of "how the others are" subliminally dominate much of the debates. Furthermore, Asians and Europeans still tend to see each other as one homogeneous block.

Designed for a civil society (non-expert) audience, the lecture started by outlining how the Europeans, after two devastating world wars, have been trying to find a way to build up long-lasting peace in Europe. After a brief history of European integration and the structure of the European Security and Defence Policy, the lecture laid out the driving force, challenges and chances of this process. Where has integration taken place - where not? Where has cooperation taken place - where not? What are the inhibitors to further integration?