REGIONALISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

DR. PUNITA PATHAK

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

VASANTA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

RAJGHAT, BHU, VARANASI

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� INTRODUCTION�

• The common assertion that world politics is being reconfigured on global lines has increasingly been challenged by the rival image of an emerging ‘world of regions’.
• In this view, regionalism is both the successor to the nation-state and an alternative to globalisation.
• Since 1945, regional organisations have sprung up in all the regions of the world
• Earlier forms of regionalism had promoted regional cooperation, and integration too, on several issues- security, political, economic and so on- the ‘new’ regionalism has been reflected in the creation of regional trade blocs, either the establishment of new one or the empowering of the existed ones.

REGIONALISM �

• Definition
• Prof. Palmer and Perkins, “a region is invariably an area embracing the territories of three of more states”. These states are bound together by ties of common interest as well as geography. They are not necessarily contiguous, or even in the same continent.
• Dr. E. N. Van Kleffens, … regional arrangement or pact is a voluntary association of sovereign states within a certain area or having common interest in that area for a joint purpose, which should not be of an offensive nature, in relation to that area.
• Regionalism is the theory or practice of coordinating social, economic, or political activities within a region comprising a number of states. On an institutional level, regionalism involves the growth of norms, rules and formal structures through which coordination is brought about.

NATURE OF REGIONALISM

• Regionalism is broadly a process through which geographical regions become significant political and/or economic units serving as the basis for cooperation and possibly identity.
• Regionalism has two faces:-
• It’s a subnational phenomenon , a process of decentralisation that takes place within countries. For instance this applies in those states which applies federalism like USA, Brazil, Malaysia etc. It is also found in that states which practise devolution, such as France, Spain and the UK .
• The second face of regionalism is transnational rather than sub national. It refers to a process of cooperation or integration between countries in the same region of the world. It is with this form of regionalism- regionalism in world politics.

TYPES OF REGIONALISM

• Economic regionalism- it is the primary form of regional integration and it refers to the creation of greater economic opportunities through cooperation among sates in the same geographical region. It is the primary form of regional integration and it has become more significant after the advent of ‘new’ regionalism in the early 1990’s, manifested in the growth of regional trade blocs.
• Security regionalism- it refers to forms of cooperation designed to protect states from their enemies, both neighbouring and distant ones. Regional integration may thus give rise to ‘community security’ (called by Karl Deutsch)

• This applies in two ways, first ’peace theory cooperation’, in which ever deeper levels of interdependence and integration, mainly over economic issues, make war between member states unthinkable. Formation of ECSC and EEC was to prevent future war between Germany and France second ‘ to gain protection against a common external enemy’. European integration was thus seen as a means of safeguarding Europe from the threat of soviet communism and expansionaism
• Political regionalism- it refers to attempts by states in the same area to strengthen or protect shared values, thereby enhancing their image and reputation and gaining a more powerful diplomatic voice. This factor became important in the formation of several organisations such as the council for Europe in 1949 which aims to ensure respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

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THEORIES OF REGIONALISM- THREE MAIN THEORIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED

Federalism

• It is the earliest theory of regional or even global integration, being advocated by Hegel and Rousseau from the eighteenth century onwards, and drawing inspiration from its use in domestic politics as a device for reconciling tensions between the centre and the periphery.
• For regional or international cooperation federalism relies on a process of conscious decision making by the political elites.
• If the war is caused by sovereign states pursuing self interest in a context of anarchy , peace will only be achieved if states transfer at least a measure of their sovereignty to a higher federal body, which is often referred as pooled sovereignty. The federalist vision of ‘unity through diversity’ is by achieved by a system of shared sovereignty.

�Functionalism�

• This key idea is expressed in David Mitrany’s celebrated work, ‘a working peace system’ and formulation: ‘form follows function’. Other important exponents are Leonard Woolf, Norman Anagell, Robert Cecil, and G.D.H. Cole. In this view , cooperation only works when it is focused on specific activities (functions) that would be performed more effectively through collective action than by individual states.
• Then , this creates pressure to construct institutional structures that would facilitate such cooperation in these areas like European integration
• It seeks to build ‘peace by pieces’ , through international organisation, that emphasize the ’sharing of sovereignty’, instead of its total surrender. It is a ‘bottom-up’ approach for building cooperative links among states
• Functionalist lay emphasis on the socio-economic and welfare needs rather than on the political needs

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��� Neofunctionalism��

• Neofunctionalism recognizes the limitations of the traditional functionalist view that integration is largely determined by the recognition of growing interdependence in economic and other areas. Instead it places more emphasis on the interplay between economies and politics.
• From this perspective, functional cooperation tends to produce transnational constituencies of advocates for still closer cooperation, creating a dynamic that leads to wide political integration. This process is known as spillover.
• Neofunctionalism arose as a critique of functionalism, along with the writings of ernst hass’s beyond the nation state : functionalism and international organisation and the uniting of europe : political social and economic forces. (1950-19570 and karl deutsch and his associates, political community and north atlantic area and france, germany and western alliance : a study of elite attitudes on european integration and world politics.

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REFERENCES

• HEYWOOD, A., GLOBAL POLITICS (2014) PALGRAVE FOUNDATIONS. LONDON
• GHOSH, P., INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, (2014) PHI LEARNING PRIVATE LIMITED, DELHI
• BAYLIS, J., SMITH, S., OWENS, P., (ED.) THE GLOBALISATION OF WORLD POLITICS, (2017) OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, NEW YORK
• BASU, R., (ED) INTERNATIONAL POLITICS : CONCEPT THEORIES AND ISSUES, (2018) SAGE TEXTS, NEW DELHI

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