Suchergebnisse

The political system and economic model are cracking. Two hundred years of industrialization/mass consumption come to an end. Values feel their way into steering our behavior, promoting groups, and diminishing materialistic consumption. The nation-state, traditional media, representative liberal democracy, and corporate governance are losing ground to group behavior anchored in common and shared values. The coming political system will be a more direct involvement of the citizen through information and communication technology. The economic model will incorporate knowledge as the most important production factor and reflect scarcities of resources in production patterns and consumption function. Industrial age governance—control and command—gives way to value-based governance.

The European Union (EU) and A SEAN have over the years come to appreciate each other as important and reliable partners sharing the same basic outlook on global politics and economics. Gradually a mechanism for consultation has been built up and it seems to work well despite some problems. Nevertheless it is puzzling why the relationship has not moved from a consultative one to a more substantive one. One reason may be that trade and investment flow smoothly without a formalized framework. This is, however, not a convincing reason. It is more likely that the EU and ASEAN have never really fully understood each other, what their respective objectives are and how they work. In 2006 the EU finally opened the door to negotiations for a free trade agreement with ASEAN, something, which had been on the ASEAN wish list for a number for years. Hopefully this will pave the way for a relationship not only rich in declarations and good intentions, but also of substantial character. Adapted from the source document.