The European Union and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations: a comparison of the political and economic aspects of the EU and ASEAN

This thesis paper is a holistic comparison of the political and economic aspects of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union, considered to be the most successful intergovernmental organizations in the developing world and in the developed world, respectively. The ground for the comparison of these two organizations is mainly that the ASEAN has the potential to be like the EU in the future. Under the political frame of reference, the corruption level and political system of the member states will be studied. Under the economic aspect, a review of the member states\u27 basic macroeconomic variables, trade and commerce, as well as efforts for financial integration will be discussed. Data was gathered mainly through a qualitative method via secondary resources