Asia and Europe

Conclusion

The three scenarios for ASEM

ASEM's launch and subsequent development have generated enough questions and expectations for an interesting study to be carried out in the realm of international relations. However, the multifaceted nature of ASEM and its very brief history present an enormous challenge to theoretical conceptualisation within a single international relations framework. This has been resolved by utilising three different frameworks to examine ASEM: ASEM in the realist framework of summit diplomacy, ASEM in the social constructivist image of a regional integrator, and in the liberal-insti-tutionalist framework of a meta-regime. These three different images of ASEM offer different starting points and produce distinct lines ...