Comparison of Regionalism in ASEAN and the Arab League

ASEAN moved in the direction of economic-security cooperation and cultural-social cooperation almost simultaneously, and with its roadmap, envisioned and implemented the creation of three structural communities. By 2015, three communities named Security, Economic, and Socio-Cultural were active. Although ASEAN focuses more on the economic sphere, it cannot be said that the other two pillars of this organization are inactive. What is important about ASEAN is that it does not take a hasty position and is in conflict with a particular member. Although the Arab League against ASEAN, as a regional organization, has a longer history of regionalism than ASEAN and has implemented some initiatives, it has faced many challenges. The Arab League's response to various crises has been largely a function of the organization's ideology and approach to the crisis. At times and in critical crises the League has failed to emerge as an effective organization with conflicting interests. It has turned this organization into an arena for confrontations.

The current research method is quantitative-analytic. Data compilation is based on documentary method. data are gathered from external and internal sources (books, Articles & websites). Although attempts have been made to use internal sources as well, due to the nature of the research and the needs of the authors, external sources have been used more.

ASEAN and the Arab League as two Asian organizations have some slight similarities. However, their differences are clearly deeper. These two organizations, which were formed in the post-World War II period, have each gone through a special process. ASEAN was able to play a more successful role than the Arab League for a number of reasons: 1. ASEAN, recognizing the interests of the region in economic cooperation, gradually focused on this area, and this has so far created a situation of relative interdependence; 2- The approach of the game with the result of positive and double sum between ASEAN members has caused 10 Southeast Asian countries to rely on their absolute achievements and this has minimized divergence. 3- ASEAN, although it has few components in the field of value. Has commonalities, but has been able to bring about convergence between members by valuing in different sectors.In contrast, the Arab League has been less successful than ASEAN for a variety of reasons: 1. Although the Arab League has gradually moved towards economic cooperation and the volume of intra-regional trade between its members has grown, the volume Trade within the organization is still very small; 2- The dominance of the zero-sum game approach among the members of the Arab League has been one of the main obstacles to deepening cooperation, as in various events such as the siege of Qatar, the civil war in Syria and Yemen and even Libya and Egypt, members of the Arab League relied on relative achievements. This has been an obstacle to the convergence of the Arab League, and 3. Although the Arab League has many common values, such as Islam, the Arabic language, and a common culture, the Arab League has not benefited much from these stimuli.

While there is a Muslim crescent in Southeast Asia, like the Shiite Crescent in the Middle East, from western Malaysia to the southern Philippines, this does not lead to ideological tensions in Southeast Asia and, secondly, to separatists such as Aceh and Mindanao has managed with the central government in the form of revenue-sharing and autonomy agreements, but the lack of economic interdependence and absolutism in the attitudes to issues has created a situation in the Arab League in which, In most cases, to varying degrees, the central government is not only confronted with different orientations, but also with different governmental approaches in the issues being challenged in the regional level. This not only destroys the ability to make efficient decisions, but also minimizes integration in the face of more important challenges. What should be considered in the Arab League in order to deepen regionalism is that the members should refrain from fanatical orientation, which is a factor in creating a zero-sum game, and value their common values. Multidimensional construction in various fields to provide opportunities for future cooperation. Following the example of the 3 ASEAN specialized communities can not only create a mechanism for dealing more effectively with accidents, but can also be a precondition for preventing severe crises and even mitigating them when appropriate.