There is more ethnic diversity in, say, Malaysia than in the entire EU. ASEAN as a whole, with a population of 580 million, is not significantly bigger than the EU (with 500 million), yet it encompasses an infinitely greater degree of ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity.
此外，在这个高度复杂和多样性的世界上，欧盟却依然在努力维护其单一性。当欧洲为自身的多样性而洋洋自得之时，它其实是全世界最缺乏多样性的地区。比如仅仅是马来西亚一个国家的民族多样性就超过欧盟，而东南亚联盟作为一个整体，虽然在人口（ 5.8 亿）上并不比欧盟（ 5 亿）多多少，但前者在民族，语言，文化和宗教方面的多样性却比后者大了几乎无限倍。