The European Union (EU) has lived up to the primary reason it was created – ensuring that member states will not wage physical war against one another, but settle their differences amicably. It owes some of its successes to a combination of enforcement and management mechanisms to ensure member states conform to rules and policies.
Other regional bodies, like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are advancing towards their objectives of economic growth, social progress and cultural development. ASEAN draws on its distinctive informal and consensus-based principles and decision making.
