W2: regional Organisations & Global Governance

Question 1

term

Region

Answer 1

dispute over what defines a region (shared proximity? culture? economic ties? religion? language?)

Question 2

term

Regionalisation

Answer 2

process of economic integration, driven by the market rather than by governments

Question 3

term

Regionalism

Answer 3

state-led projects of co-operation and co-ordination, built thourgh intergovernmental dialogues, treaties and institutions

Question 4

term

Regional integration

Answer 4

social tranformation marked by
lowering of internal boundaries,
raising of external boundaries,
increased flows of people, goods, captial, etc.,
and transfer of sovereignty to supranational authority

Question 5

term

Preferential trading arrangements (PTAs)

Answer 5

trading blocs, in which members receive preferential access to one another’s markets, can inlcude customs unions, free trade areas and common markets

Question 6

term

Regional organisations (ROs)

Answer 6

are formal and isntitutionalised co-operative relations among states or sub-state units of different countries and constitute regionalism.
Restrictive membership -> can be divided by sectors

Question 7

Scope of ROs

Answer 7

either
1. task specific, such as NATO
2. general-multipurpose, such as ASEAN/EU

Question 8

brief history of regionalism

4 points

Answer 8

• long history of regional organisation between states
• in many cases, organisation built around a great power defined region
• non-european regional ideologies and movements emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries, contributing towards the formation of ROs
• not just led by political elites but by intellectuals

Question 9

old regionalism

3 points

Answer 9

• post-world war 2 and Cold War context (in europe), bipolarity but also post-colonialism provided context for the developing world
• regional intergration ‘beyond the nationa-state’ (in europe) and advancing development and nation-building (in developing world)
• sector specific formal and states-led regionalism through regional organisations

Question 10

new regionalism

6 points

Answer 10

• increasing diversity in the content of co-operation (social, cultural, etc.)
• proliferation of ROs, amid growth of interdependence, globalisation and trans nationalisation, but also amid fears over multilateral trading orer
• defining characteristics include: depper economic integration, multilevel governance, strong international legal framework, co-operation across many dimensions
• EU first and most advanced case of new regionalism but traits can also be seen in ECOWAS, ASEAN, Mercosur, etc
• regionalism is an uneven process, and is particulary prominent in Europe, Africa, and Americas
• Inter-regional relations becoming institutionalised at an increasing rate, with the EU the most prominent initiator

Question 11

Are ROs a façade for Great Power politics?

3 points

Answer 11

• many ROs have local hegemons as a driving force
• some large states seem to use ROs to gain legitimacy or build support for preferred policies
• some ROs not helpful and failed to solve conflicts

Question 12

disproof: Are ROs a façade for Great Power politics?

3 points

Answer 12

• some argue the rise of ROs (and lowering of boudnaries) actually reflects the decline of Great Power politics
• others say that ROs offer smaller states a biger voice
• Great Power-less ROs contradict the claim

Question 13

the EU

5 points

Answer 13

• most innovative and powerful RO
• political and economic union with an internal market, standardised laws, free movement of people, goods, services and capital
• large system of EU institutions in place to oversee co-operation and co-ordination between MSs
• defies definition - a regional state? federal state? Post-Westphalian state?
• start point of many studies of regionalism but only part of the overall picture

Question 14

Post-Soviet ROs

3 points

Answer 14

• the commonwealth of Independent States was created in 1991 among all the former Soviet republics except three Baltic states (Estonia, etc)
• the establishment in 2015 of the eurasian economic union (EAEU) among Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan based in a customs union and aiming at creation of a single market
• a collective security treaty was signed in 1992. In 2002 this became the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), compromising Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan and Tajikistan

Question 15

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

functionalism

Answer 15

primarily a strategy (normative method) designed to build peace,
constructed around the proposition that the
provision of common needs and functions can unite people across state borders

Question 16

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

neofunctionalism

Answer 16

TNCs, interest groups and supranational actors
are empowered by integration
and shape it in their interest;
‘Spillovers’ push integration beyond intergovernemental bargain

Question 17

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

Intergovernmentalism

Answer 17

governments are the key actors,
use integration to achieve economic and security goals
in the context of interdependence;
outcomes reflect regional preference and power constellations

Question 18

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

post-functionalism

Answer 18

focuses on backlash mechanism of intergration from economic and cultural ‘losers’ (e.g. Brexit)

Question 19

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

Despite its golbal heritage, studies were initially dominated by …

Answer 19

… european/US ideas of regionalism, its origins, evolution, and effectiveness

Question 20

the study of regionalism: key debates regional integration theory

In 1960s, Hass warned there could be no …

Answer 20

… universal law of integration deduced from europe

Question 21

Gutner mentions 3 groups of theories as helpful for defining regions

Answer 21

1. materialist, classical theories of geopolitics
2. ideational, critical theories of geography
3. behavior theories