This public lecture is now available as MP3 and PDF (as a courtesy to the presenter, please contact them for permission to refer to their PowerPoint notes for the purpose of further research).

 

The audio record of the event is available here:

 

In discussing the European Union and looking at its external relations and foreign policy, many different ideas and concepts have been used over the years. From Duchéne’s civilian power, to the much touted conceptualization of EU as a normative power, and in recent years, ethical power Europe (Lisbeth Aggestam); to Zaki Laïdi’s hypothesis of EU as a risk-averse power.  All these reflect and are tied to the ongoing debates with regards to EU’s role and aspirations and its position and positioning in the world. As the EU struggles to define and defend its interests, promote its norms and project its power, developments in Asia have woken the EU to the realities of the need for a more comprehensive partnership with Asia if it aspires to be a global player. Yet, it is not clear if the EU is equipped to come up with a grand strategy of engaging Asia and how the competing visions of EU-Asia partnership will unfold.    

 

Dr YEO Lay Hwee is Director of the European Union Centre in Singapore and teaches part time at both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. She is also Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Adjunct Research Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and International Fellow at School of Social & Political Studies, University of Melbourne. An international relations expert, her research interests revolve around comparative regionalism; Asia-Europe relations in general, and in particular, relations between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process.  Some of her recent publications include “EU-ASEAN Relations and Policy Learning”;  “The Everlasting Love for Comparison: Reflections on the EU’s and ASEAN’s Dr YEO Lay Hwee is Director of the European Union Centre in Singapore and teaches part time at both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. She is also Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Adjunct Research Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and International Fellow at School of Social & Political Studies, University of Melbourne. An international relations expert, her research interests revolve around comparative regionalism; Asia-Europe relations in general, and in particular, relations between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process.  Some of her recent publications include “EU-ASEAN Relations and Policy Learning”;  “The Everlasting Love for Comparison: Reflections on the EU’s and ASEAN’s Integration” and “From AFTA to ASEAN Economic Community – Is ASEAN moving towards an EU-style economic integration?”