ABSTRACT
Situated in the context of the global rise of regionalism both as a response to and a consequence of the new world economic order, this chapter analyzes the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as supranational regional groupings and relates the experiences of member nations with the globalization dynamics. It also compares both bodies and assesses their performance, while drawing far-reaching conclusions on their prospects in the new world economic order of the twenty-first century. ECOWAS and ASEAN have a few features in common that also contrasts them as regional organizations with the European Union. These features say a lot about their profile, consummation process, and operational character. ECOWAS and ASEAN manifest a lot of differences in conception, composition, operational character, and the degree of success in performance since their emergence as supranational organizations in the international system.
