Renewal in time of global disruption: Asia’s expectations of the EU

Since the sudden end of the Cold War, the need for studies of ideational factors like norms and perceptions has grown stronger. Meanwhile, the European Union as a new type of international actor has launched its Common and Foreign Security Policy, creating new needs to understand norm diffusion and perception shaping of such a non-state actor. How to choose a representative sample and to generate reliable data could be challenging, owing not only to the fact that ideational factors often seem too intangible when compared to the material factors like the size or military power of a country, but also because norms, perceptions and identity are not static. This introductory article introduces the background, research method and key findings that underpin the multinational project 'Renewal in Time of Global Disruption: Asia's Expectations of the EU', which is showcased in this special issue. It is designed to provide up-to-date perceptions of, and expectations towards the EU, found in Asia. The transparent explanation of research methods in this paper not only underscores the reliability of the empirical data but also facilitates how further studies by other researchers can be conducted.