The European experience was based on avoiding another inter-state war and economic integration while other regions concentrated on preserving their independence and gaining respect and post- independence legitimacy in the international system. Comparatively, European regionalism has ‘aimed at taming nationalism (and sovereignty in the case of the EEC) by protecting and promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law as key prerequisites for peace and prosperity’ (Acharya, 2016: 112). In contrast, non-Western regionalism is characterised by anti- colonialism, national liberation from colonial rule, the preservation of sovereignty and the avoidance of a great power rivalry in the Third World.