Beyond the ‘new’ regionalism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments Much of my recent work in this field has been carried out jointly with Fredrik Söderbaum, and his help in writing this article has also been invaluable. Tony Payne's generous support and enthusiasm was also of great importance, now as earlier. Notes 1. Donald Puchala once compared this predicament with the blind man's unsuccessful attempts to define an elephant. See the discussion in Ben Rosamond, Theories of European Integration (Palgrave, 2000), p. 12. 2. For introductions to the earlier debate focusing on Europe, see R. J. Harrison, Europe in Question (Allen & Unwin, 1974); Rosamond, Theories of European Integration; and Dimitris N. Cryssochoou, Theorizing European Integration (Sage, 2001). 3. Previous overviews of the recent debate include Björn Hettne, Andras Inotai & Osvaldo Sunkel (eds), Studies in the New Regionalism, Vols I – V (Macmillan, 1999/2001); Mario Telò (ed.), European Union and New Regionalism: Regional Actors and Global Governance in a Post-hegemonic era (Ashgate, 2001); and Fredrik Söderbaum & Timothy M. Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism: A Palgrave Reader (Palgrave 2003). The most recent addition is Mary Farrell, Björn Hettne & Luk Van Langenhove, Global Politics of Regionalism (Polity, 2005), in which theories, key issues and case studies are presented. 4. See Joseph Nye, Peace in Parts: Integration and Conflict in Regional Organization (Little, Brown & Co., 1971 and 1987). 5. L. J. Cantori & S. L. Spiegel, The International Politics of Regions: A Comparative Approach (Prentice Hall, 1970). 6. Andrew Hurrell, 'Regionalism in theoretical perspective', in: Louise Fawcett & Andrew Hurrell (eds), Regionalism in World Politics: Regional Organization and International Order (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 38. 7. Ibid., pp. 38–9. 8. Walter Mattli, The Logic of Regional Integration: Europe and Beyond (Cambridge University Press, 1999). 9. Nye, Peace in Parts, pp. 26–7. 10. Ernst B. Haas, The Uniting of Europe: Political, Social and Economic Forces (Stanford University Press, 1958), p. 16. 11. W. Andrew Axline (ed.), 'Cross-regional comparisons and the theory of regional cooperation: lessons from Latin America, the Caribbean, South East Asia and the South Pacific', in: W. Andrew Axline (ed.), The Political Economy of Regional Cooperation: Comparative Case Studies (Pinter, 1994), p. 217. 12. Ernst B. Haas, 'The Study of Regional Integration: Reflections on the Joy and Anguish of Pretheorizing', International Organization, Vol. 24, No. 4 (1970), p. 610. 13. Anthony Payne & Andrew Gamble, 'Introduction: the political economy of regionalism and world order', in: Andrew Gamble & Anthony Payne (eds), Regionalism and World Order (Macmillan, 1996), p. 2. 14. Ibid., p. 17. 15. The first mentioned definition is called 'deliberately straightforward' in Anthony Payne, 'Rethinking development inside international political economy', in: Anthony Payne (ed.), The New Regional Politics of Development (Palgrave, 2004), p. 16. 16. Helge Hveem, 'The regional project in global governance', in: Söderbaum & Shaw, Theories of New Regionalism, p. 83. 17. Hurrell, 'Regionalism in theoretical perspective', p. 39. 18. Sophie Boisseau du Rocher & Bertrand Fort, Paths to Regionalisation: Comparing Experiences in East Asia and Europe (Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. xi. 19. Iver. B. Neumann, 'A region-building approach', in: Söderbaum & Shaw, Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 160–78. 20. Sometimes the economic nationalism in the interwar period is referred to as the first wave or generation. Luk Van Langenhove and Ana-Cristina Costea speak of three generations of regionalism, referring to: a first generation of economic integration, a second generation of internal political integration and a third emerging generation of external political integration. Speaking in terms of generations also allows the authors to avoid the dichotomy between 'old' and 'new' regionalism. They believe that a 'neo' new regionalism is shaping up, with greater ambitions in global governance in general and the United Nations institutions in particular. See Luk Van Langenhove & Ana-Cristina Costea, 'Third generation regional integration: the transmutation of multilateralism into multiregionalism?', unpublished manuscript, United Nations University/Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU/CRIS), 2005. 21. This section draws on Rosamond, Theories of European Integration. 22. David Mitrany, 'The Prospect of Integration: Federal of Functional', Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1965), pp. 119–49; and David Mitrany, A Working Peace System (Quadrangle Books, 1943, 1966). 23. Rosamond, Theories of European Integration, p. 60. 24. Bela Balassa, The Theory of Economic Integration (Allen & Unwin, 1961). 25. Stanley Hoffman, 'Obstinate or Obsolete? The Fate of the Nation State and the Case of Western Europe', Daedalus, No. 95 (1966), pp. 865–85. 26. Alan S. Milward, The European Rescue of the Nation State (Routledge, 1992). 27. Robert O. Keohane & Joseph S. Nye (eds), Transnational Relations and World Politics (Harvard University Press, 1972); also Power and Interdependence (Little, Brown & Co., 1977). 28. Ernst B. Haas, 'International Integration: The European and the Universal Process', International Organization, Vol. 15, No. 4 (1961), pp. 366–92; and Ernst B. Haas & Phillipe Schmitter, 'Economics and Differential Patterns of Integration: Projections about Unity in Latin America', International Organization, Vol. 18, No. 4 (1964), pp. 259–99. 29. Axline, 'Cross-regional comparisons and the theory of regional cooperation', p. 180. 30. Björn Hettne & Andras Inotai, The New Regionalism: Implications for Global Development and International Security (UNU/WIDER, 1994); William D. Coleman & Geoffrey R. D. Underhill (eds), Regionalism and Global Economic Integratio:. Europe, Asia and the Americas (Routledge, 1998); Telò, European Union and New Regionalism; Sheila Page, Regionalism in the Developing Countries (Palgrave, 2000); Fawcett & Hurrell, Regionalism in World Politics; Gamble & Payne, Regionalism and World Order; Edward D. Mansfield & Helen V. Milner (eds), The Political Economy of Regionalism (Colombia University Press, 1997); and Michael Schulz, Fredrik Söderbaum & Joakim Öjendal (eds), Regionalization in a Globalizing World: A Comparative Perspective on Actors, Forms and Processes (Zed, 2001). 31. Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Beacon Press, 1957). There are now three editions of this book: by Farrar & Rinehart in 1944 and by Beacon Press in 1957 and 2001. In the 1957 edition R. M. MacIver stressed the lessons for 'the coming international organization'. The 2001 edition has a foreword by Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank, who makes the very apt remark that 'it often seems as if Polanyi is speaking directly to present-day issues'. Polanyi was also early in analysing regionalism and world order: see Karl Polanyi, 'Universal Capitalism or Regional Planning', The London Quarterly of World Affairs, January 1945. 32. Björn Hettne, 'Neo-Mercantilism: The Pursuit of Regionness', Cooperation & Conflict, Vol. 28, No. 3 (1993), pp. 211–32; and Björn Hettne & Fredrik Söderbaum, 'Theorising the Rise of Regionness', New Political Economy, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2000), pp. 457–74. 33. Europe's contemporary crisis can be compared to that of a 'failed state', based on too fragmented a demos or several demoi, which have no feeling of belonging to the same polity. 34. Others identify new regionalism with one of its aspects, that of 'open regionalism'. See the special issue of Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2 (2003) on 'Governing the Asia Pacific–Beyond the New Regionalism'. 35. Kym Anderson & Richard Blackhurst (eds), Regional Integration and the Global Trading System (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993); Jaime de Melo & Arvind Panagariya (eds), New Dimensions in Regional Integration (Cambridge University Press, 1993); and Vincent Cable & David Henderson (eds), Trade Blocs? The Future of Regional Integration (Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1994). 36. Cable & Henderson, Trade Blocs?, p. 8. 37. Andrew Gamble & Anthony Payne, 'Conclusion: the new regionalism', in: Gamble & Payne (eds), Regionalism and World Order, p. 251. 38. For surveys of theoretical approaches, see Söderbaum & Shaw, Theories of New Regionalism; and Finn Laursen, Comparative Regional Integration: Theoretical Perspectives (Ashgate, 2003). The former focuses on theoretical approaches, the latter makes a conscious selection of both theoretical approaches and empirical cases to illuminate them. Two more focused theoretical explorations are Mattli, The Logic of Regional Integration; and Stefan A. Schirm, Globalization and the New Regionalism: Global Markets, Domestic Politics and Regional Cooperation (Polity, 2002). 39. See the special issue of Third World Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 5 (1999) on 'New Regionalisms in the New Millennium'. 40. The discussion on these issues draws on Björn Hettne & Fredrik Söderbaum, 'Regional cooperation: a tool for addressing regional and global challenges', in: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Task Force on Global Public Goods, Stockholm, 2004, available at http://www.gpgtaskforce.org/bazment.aspx 41. Percy S. Mistry, 'New regionalism and economic development', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 117–39. 42. Ibid., p. 136. 43. Diana Tussie, 'Regionalism: providing a substance to multilateralism?', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 99–116. 44. Stephany Griffith-Jones, 'International financial stability and market efficiency as a global public good', in: Inge Kaul, Pedro Conceicao, Katell Le Goulven & Ronald Mendoza (eds), Providing Global Public Goods: Managing Globalization (Oxford University Press for United Nations Development Programme, 2003), pp. 435–54. 45. Richard Higgott, 'From Trade-Led to Monetary-Led Regionalism: Why Asia in the 21st Century will be Different to Europe in the 20th Century', UNU/CRIS e-Working Papers No. 1, Bruges, 2002. 46. Peter Robson, 'The New Regionalism and Developing Countries', Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3 (1993), pp. 329–48. 47. Nancy Birdsall & Robert Z. Lawrence, 'Deep integration and trade agreements: good for developing countries?', in: Inge Kaul, Isabelle Grunberg & Marc A. Stern (eds), Global Public Goods: International Cooperation in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press for United Nations Development Programme, 1999), pp. 128–51. 48. Relevant generalising contributions include: David A. Lake & Patrick Morgan, Regional Orders: Building Security in a New World (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Emanuel Adler & Michael Barnett (eds.), Security Communities (Cambridge University Press, 1998); and Barry Buzan & Ole Wæver, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security (Cambridge University Press, 2003). 49. Barry Buzan, People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991), p. 190. 50. Ibid., p. 192. 51. Barry Buzan, 'Regional security complex theory in the post-Cold War world', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 140–59. 52. See Buzan & Wæver, Regions and Powers. 53. See Lake & Morgan, Regional Orders. 54. Karl Deutsch, The Analysis of International Relations (Prentice Hall, 1968), p. 194. 55. Björn Hettne, Andras Inotai & Osvaldo Sunkel (eds), Comparing Regionalisms: Implications for Global Development (Macmillan, 2001), p. xxxii. 56. A large number of labels have been used in the debate for capturing these two similar (but not always identical) phenomena, such as 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' regionalisation; de jure and de facto regionalisation; states-led regionalism and market and society-induced regionalisation; and formal/informal regionalism. 57. Etel Solingen, Regional Orders at Century's Dawn: Global and Domestic Influences on Grand Strategy (Princeton University Press, 1998). 58. See, for instance, Luk Van Langenhove, 'Theorising Regionhood', UNU/CRIS Working Papers No. 1, Bruges, 2003. 59. Fredrik Söderbaum, The Political Economy of Regionalism: The Case of Southern Africa (Palgrave, 2003). 60. Morten Bøås, Marianne H. Marchand & Timothy M. Shaw, 'The weave-world: the regional interweaving of economies, ideas and identities', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 192–210. 61. Winfried Ruigrok & Rob van Tulder, The Logic of International Restructuring (Routledge, 1995). 62. Robert Wade, 'The disturbing rise in poverty and inequality', in: David Held & Mathias Koenig-Archibugi (eds), Taming Globalization (Polity, 2003), p. 34. 63. Roland Axtman, Globalization and Europe (Pinter, 1998), p 173. 64. Fredrik Söderbaum & Timothy M. Shaw, 'Conclusion: what futures for new regionalism?', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, p. 222. 65. Theorising actorship has so far been focused on the EU. A pioneering study is that of Gunnar Sjöstedt, The External Role of the European Community (Saxon House, 1977). 66. Van Langenhove, 'Theorising Regionhood'. 67. Hettne, 'Neo-Mercantilism'. 68. Charlotte Bretherton & John Vogler, The European Union as a Global Actor (Routledge, 1999), p. 38. 69. Glenn Hook & Ian Kearns (eds), Subregionalism and World Order (Macmillan, 1999), p. 1. 70. Kenichi Ohmae, who observed the phenomenon at an early stage, referred to these formations as 'region states', which is somewhat misleading. He also saw them as emerging out of globalisation which is a simplification. See Kenichi Ohmae, 'The Rise of the Region-State', Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 1 (1993), pp. 78-87. 71. Bob Jessop, 'The political economy of scale and the construction of cross-border microregionalism', in: Söderbaum & Shaw, Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 179–98. 72. James H. Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance (Princeton University Press, 2000); and Markus Perkmann & Ngai-Ling Sum (eds), Globalization, Regionalization and the Building of Cross-Border Regions (Palgrave, 2002). 73. Joakim Öjendal, 'South East Asia at a constant crossroads: an ambiguous new region', in: Schultz et al., Regionalization in a Globalising World, p. 160. 74. James Parsonage, 'South East Asia's "Growth Triangle": A Subregional Response to Global Transformation', International Journal of Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3 (1997), pp. 307–17. 75. Gamble & Payne (eds), Regionalism and World Order and the various follow-up studies from the project have even been referred to as 'the world order approach'. See, for instance, Fredrik Söderbaum, 'Introduction: theories of new regionalism', in: Söderbaum & Shaw, Theories of New Regionalism, p. 11. 76. Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (Macmillan, 1995), p. 21. 77. Robert Cox, with Timothy J. Sinclair, Approaches to World Order (Cambridge University Press, 1996). 78. President George H. W. Bush's 'new world order' is the obvious example. Cox comments that the concept should not become reduced to 'one specific and political manipulative use of the term': see Cox, Approaches to World Order, p. 169. 79. Richard Falk, 'The post-Westphalian enigma', in: Björn Hettne & Bertil Odén (eds), Global Governance in the 21st Century: Alternative Perspectives on World Order (Expert Group on Development Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, 2002), pp. 147–83; and Richard Falk, The Great War on Global Terror (Interlink, 2003). 80. R. R. Goodin, Green Political Theory (Polity, 1992). 81. Mark Duffield, 'Reprising durable disorder: network war and the securitization of aid', in: Hettne & Odén (eds), Global Governance in the 21th Century, pp 74–105. 82. Richard Falk, 'Regionalism and world order: the changing global setting', in: Söderbaum & Shaw (eds), Theories of New Regionalism, pp. 63–80. 83. Alan K. Henrikson, 'The growth of regional organizations and the role of the United Nations', in: Fawcett & Hurrell, Regionalism in World Politics, pp. 122–68. 84. Martin Holland, The European Union and the Third World (Palgrave, 2002), p. 7. 85. Julie Gilson, Asia Meets Europe (Edward Elgar, 2002). 86. The concept has been coined by the American publicist, Charles Krauthammer, and stands for the US policy of taking advantage of its military superiority by shaping the world order in accordance with the US national interest (identified with a general interest). This is a project rather than an established fact. See Charles Krauthammmer, 'The Unipolar Moment', Foreign Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 1 (1991–1992), pp. 23–33; and 'Unilateralism is the key to our success', Guardian Weekly, 22 December 2001. 87. Roger Burbach & Jim Tarbell, Imperial Overstretch: George W. Bush and the Hubris of Empire (Zed, 2004); Richard Falk, The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolities (Routledge, 2004); James J. Hentz (ed.), The Obligation of Empire: United States' Grand Strategy for a New Century (University Press of Kentucky, 2004); and Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy and the End of the Republic (Metropolitan Books, 2004). 88. Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (Random House, 1987). Eric Hobsbawm made the following observation regarding old and new imperialism, further underlining the problem of sustainability: 'The present world situation is quite unprecedented. The great global empires that we have seen before … bear little comparison with what we see today in the United States empire … A key novelty of the US imperial project is that all other great powers and empires knew that they were not the only ones, and none aimed at global domination. None believed themselves invulnarable, even if they believed themselves to be central to the world – as China did, or the Roman Empire at its peak' (cited in Burbach & Tarbell, Imperial Overstretch, p. 179). 89. Shaun Breslin et al. (eds), New Regionalisms in the Global Political Economy (Routledge, 2002), p. 11. 90. W. Andrew Axline, 'Comparative case studies of regional cooperation among developing countries', in: Axline, The Political Economy of Regional Cooperation, p. 11. 91. Andrew Hurrell, 'The regional dimension in international relations theory' in: Farrell et al., Global Politics of Regionalism, pp. 38–53. 92. Immanuel Wallerstein makes an interesting distinction between civilisation and the empirical historical system, the empire. 'A civilization refers to a contemporary claim about the past in terms of its use in the present to justify heritage, separateness, rights.' See Immanuel Wallerstein, Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing World-system (Cambridge University Press, 1991). Another materialist approach is to be found in Robert Cox, 'Civilisations in World Political Economy', New Political Economy, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1996), pp. 141–56. In the globalised condition, civilisations are de-territorialised and constitute 'communities of thought', global projects in conflict and dialogue. The interplay implies a 'supra-intersubjectivity' and, if it takes the form of dialogue rather than conflict, one can speak of a 'new multilateralism'. This concept is developed in Robert W. Cox, The New Realism: Perspectives on Multilateralism and World Order (Macmillan, 1997). 93. Charles A. Kupchan, 'After Pax Americana: benign power, regional integration and the sources of stable multipolarity', in: Birthe Hansen & Bertel Heurlin (eds), The New World Order: Contrasting Theories (Palgrave, 2000), pp. 134–66.