Publication

From October 7-9 European and East Asian heads of state and government met at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi for their fifth inter-regional summit. Following the eastern expansion of the EU and northern expansion of the ASEAN community, the number of participating states has grown considerably to 38. Considering the size of the summit, the time invested by each of the heads of government to travel to and participate in it and the vague and non-binding final declaration that has once again come out of it, one is left questioning the sense and purpose of such mammoth summits.