ABSTRACT
Andrew Moravcsik has made a great academic contribution in parsimoniously explaining European integration as one normal example of interstate cooperation by means of a coherent set of propositions based on theoretical assumptions. The European Union has both a formal and an informal character. Hence, a framework for comparison that only emphasizes the differences between regionalism in Europe and in Asia might not be of much help. Many observers do seem sceptical that a serious comparison of European and Asian regionalism is possible at all. Moravcsik’s main argument is as follows: Liberal Intergovemmentalism (LI) takes each state's government as a primary actor in international relations, which puts LI on much the same footing as the realists in American theories of international relations. Although Moravcsik employs his framework solely to explain the establishment of the European Economic Cooperation and Euratom, the very original constellation that later led to the Treaties of Rome provides rich suggestions for imagining the developments of Asian regionalism.
