ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the historical–institutional context for the empirical chapters. In the first part of the chapter, the historical overview of the first book is recapitulated and key systemic and institutional developments shaping the ASEAN–EU interaction on NTS issues of more recent times are highlighted. The second part outlines the actual institutional space for security interaction between the two regions through the discussion of relevant dialogue fora – ASEAN–EU dialogue, ASEM, ASEAN PMC+1, and ARF – and the European Commission’s emergency and security instrument, IcSP. This overview of EU mechanisms reveals that the EU’s security engagement in the region contributes mainly to confidence-building and capacity-building. Thereby, in many instances, the global security agenda – and not the regional security agenda – has been and still is seminal in facilitating confidence-building and capacity-building activities.
