Regionalism Flashcards
Regionalism
Process by which greater collective action and closer relations are established between nation states within the same geographical location
Economic Regionalism + example
Process by which nation states within the same geographical location eliminate or reduce custome barriers between them, creating a free-trade area and encouraging regional trade and investment
E.g NAFTA, RCEP
Political Regionalism + example
Process by which nation states in a similar area that share similar political and cultural beliefs decide they can exert greater diplomatic influence by cooperating.
E.g Afrian Union, Arab League
Security Regionalism + example
Process by which nation sates within a similar area work closely together and increase trust between them, engaging with crisis management together and providing peace-keepers for one another, thus reducing risk of conflict.
E.g ASEAN, OSCE
African Union - Trade (ACFTA)
Established African Continental Free Trade Area
Designed to increase intra-African trade by 60% by 2022
NAFTA - Strength examples
Created free trade area by eliminating tariffs
Created approximately 5m jobs
2015 - trade amounted to $1.14 trillion
Increased US economic growth by 0.5% per annum
NAFTA - Weakness examples
Led to 500,000-700,000 job losses in US
30% of Mexico’s workforce became employed in substandard conditions
African Union (2002) - Economic strength examples
African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) -designed to increase intra-African trade by 60% by 2022
Guided Trade Initiative (2022) eight member states allowed a small number of goods to be traded without tariff restrictions
EU-AU Joint invstment deal worth 150bn euros in 2022
African Union (2002) - Political strength examples
ASF: African Standby Force
-Never been deployed due to difficulties of deploying it
Peace and Security Council prevents and resolves conflicts in Africa
-E.g 2019 Sudan was suspended to make the government transition to a democracy
Arab League (1945)
Focuses on political and security issues, having no supranational governing institutions and its focus is to represent and coordinate the interests of Arab states in international affairs
Arab League example - Libya
2011 Libya suspended from memberhip in response to Gaddafi’s suppression of the opposition.
AL supporter the UN’s decision to authorise air strikes.
Arab League example - Syria
Suspended from the league for Assad’s brutal repression of pro democracy demonstrations
Arab League Strength example - Saudi Arabia
Supported Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels
In 2015, a Joint Arab Force was established to counter extremism and terrorism in the region
Arab League - Weaknesses
Lacks peacekeeping function - allowed violence to continue in Middle East
Difficult for it to take united action as there are many differences between member states, none are compelled to obey decisions
Decisions only bind those states that accept them
‘Debating society’ - little practical initative to resolve conflicts in Libya or Syria
African Union Weakness - Protecting Heads of State
2010 Declared it wouldn’t cooperate with ICC to arrest Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir - ICC held them responsible for genocide in Darfur
Association of Southeast Asian Nations -ASEAN (1967)
Security objective of encouraging cooperation between member states and presenting a unified response to collective problems e.g drug smuggling
Negotiated free-trade agreements
Introduced visa free tavel
ASEAN Weakness - Myanmar
2021 - Ineffectively handled the Ronhingya crisis in Myanmar
-Due to its strict adherence to the principle of non-interference in member states’ internal affairs.
ASEAN Weakness - China
Failed to establish a coordinated response to Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea due to split in their membership
E.g Cambodia, Laos side with China
E.g Malaysia, Singapore, side with USA
ASEAN Strength - Free trade
Negotiated free trade agreements with:
China
India
South Korea
Japan
100% of goods traded between ASEAN members are free of tariffs
ASEAN Strength - Labour force
3rd largest in world
ASEAN Strength - Economic Growth
2017 - Economy grew at 5.2% per annum
EU - The Commission
Recommends legislation
27 commissioners appointed and represent the interests of Europe rather than their own state
EU - The European Council
Comprises the heads of all the EU governments.
Meets 4 times a year and drives forward direction of EU
EU leaders can exercise the veto on proposals that threaten their national interest.
E.g In 2013, Cameron vetoed an update to the Treaty of Lisbon meaning that the remaining members went ahead with the treaty and the UK was exempt from its requirements.
EU - The Parliament
Only directly elected body
Scrutinise legislation through committees
EU - European Court of Justice (ECJ)
Oversees the correct application and implementation of EU law
Maastrict Treaty (1993)
Aimed to advance EU political and Monetary union
- Replaced the EEC with the EU
- Established the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CSFP)
- Committed the EU to a monetary union, which became operational in 2002
Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
- Laid down the framework for the accession of 10 new states
- Created a High Representative to take overall responsibility for EU foreign affairs
- Expanded QMV(Qualified Majority Voting) on Council of Ministers
Lisbon Treaty (2009)
- Provided EU with full legal rights to join intergovernmental organisations and negotiate international treaties
- Creating the permanent role of President of the European Council to develop and coordinate EU foreign policy
- Creating the permanent roles of High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy
Arguments against EU membership eroding state sovereignty
- Council of minsiters still hold veto
- EU Council has veto
- Lisbon treaty allows members to leave e.g UK
% of people supporting eurozone
75%
Eurozone
Currency union of 20 EU states, all adopting the Euro
Advantages of Eurozone
- Eliminated costs of exchange rate fluctuations - protecting business and consumers from costly swings in currency markets
- Improved the ease with which prices can be compared between countries
- Makes the EU a more attractive area to do business with
Intergovernmentalism
Process by which decisions are reached btween nation states, rather than being imposed on them from above
Supranationalism
Refers to the process by which decisions are taken by institutions above the nation state.
These institutions possess the authority to enforce obedience from the nation state
2021 EU Defence spending
214 bn euros
European Commission example law
Enshrined the quality of bathing water in EU law.
-means all states must ensure public bathing areas (sea etc) remain unpolluted.
EU Article 7
Allows the suspension of voting rights of a member state
E.g early 2024 - threatened against Hungary if they block additional financial aid to Ukraine, which would jeopardise the security of a candidate state
Arguments AGAINST EU significance as global actor
Member states are too divided to provide leadership
E.g War on Terror, Syria, Libya
Permanent memership of UNSC is more important for structural influence, EU doesn’t have this
21 of 27 EU member states are part of NATO, prioritising their own security concerns through NATO
Little evidence of other countries following EU’s example
EU Political influence example - IGOs
Possesses significant structural influence as a full member of the WTO, G7 G20
EU Military influence example - CSDP
Common Security and Defense Policy - 37 overseas operations between 2003 and 2023
E.g Arms Embargo on Libya
EU Military influence example - Operation Atlanta
Operation Atlanta has combatted piracy off the Horn of Africa since 2008
EU Military influence example - Ukraine
EU military assistance to Ukraine was set up in 2022 with an initial 16 million euro fund to provide ammunition and equipment
EU Economic influence aspects
3rd highest GDP, 2nd Highest GDP PPP
EU’s GDP represents 1/6 total world GDP making it a powerful negotiator in trade deals
E.g Negotiated a free-trade agreement with Canda (2016) and Japan (2019)
EU biggest provider of aid to the developing world
Imposed sanctions on states for human rights violations through the EU global human rights sanctions regime
EU Economic influence example - Sanctions
2021 Imposed snactions on Myanmar following the military coup
Also imposed sanctions on Belarus and banned its planes from EU airspace after Belarus forced a plane to land so it could arrest a dissident journalist
EU Economic influence example - Cotonou Agreement
Requires developing countries to safeguard human rights if they are to gain favourable access to EU markets
EU Economic influence example - Working with IGOs
Working with WTO, the EU can deploy its combined economic strength to maximum strength
EU Economic influence example - Zone of Influence
2016 Turkey agreed to tighten up the flow of Syrian refugees into Europe
-Done in return for access to the Schengen zone and ‘re-engergised’ talks on Turkish membership of the EU
EU Political influence example - Paris
2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, EU negotiated as one body on behalf of all its members
EU Military influence example - Deployment
Since 2002, EU has had a rapid reaction force.
E.g Deployed near Macedonia and Bosnia
E.g Deployed Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo
EU Lacking influence example - Davos Summit
2020 Davos Summit, president of EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen accepted that the EU needs to be more assertive in international relations, highlighted by Libya showing the cost of division and hesitation
Regionaism Success Example - Darfur (Sudan)
2007-21 AU and EU deployed peace-keeping mission in Darfur
EU Success Example - Climate Change
Provides global lead in combatting climate change
Legally commits its members to a 55% reduction in carbon emissions compared with 1990 by 2030.
By 2050 it is committed to a carbon neutral economy
How did the African Union threaten to undermine the ICC
Said it would withdraw all of their members due to all convictions being African people
EU Weakness Example - Afghanistan
EU Funded Afghanistan football stadium
Football stadium used for public hangings
