New Regionalism and the European Union. Dialogues, Comparisons and New Research Directions

Summary:

The debates on regionalism have been polarized between European Union (EU) scholars and non-EU scholars, with the assumption being that regionalism within the EU and other regions of the world are quite distinct, with little to be learnt from dialogue with each other. This book challenges such assumptions and calls for a genuine debate between scholars of regionalism.

This book demonstrates that more can and needs to be learned about regional integration all over the world through comparison and reflection on specific regional trends. Beginning with a theoretically driven introduction, leading experts in the field are brought together to offer a series of case studies on regional integration within Latin America, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. In Part III the authors investigate the links between the EU and selected other regional organisations and processes, exploring the dynamics through which these interregional relations are developing and the implications they have for the study of contemporary regionalism/regionalisation both inside and beyond the continent of Europe. The conclusions set out a challenging research agenda for comparative studies in the field.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction: Regions, Regionalism and Comparisons | Alex Warleigh-Lack and Nick Robinson
2. Studying Regions Comparatively: Back to the Future? | Ben Rosamond and Alex Warleigh-Lack
3. Learning from the New Regionalism? What, if Anything, can Insights from New Regionalist Scholarship Offer for Studies of European Integration? | Nick Robinson
4. Africa Meets Europe: Towards Comparative Regionalism | Fredrik Söderbaum
5. East Asian Regionalism and the European Experience: Differences in Leadership, Possible Lessons | Jeff Loder, Jean Michel Montsion and Richard Stubbs
6. Institutions, Culture or Ethics? The Logic of Regionalism in Europe and East Asia | William A. Callahan
7. The Demise of New Regionalism: Reframing the Study of Contemporary Regional Integration in Latin America | Nicola Phillips and Germán C. Prieto Corredor
8. The Experience Of European Integration And The Potential For Integration In South America | Andrés Malamud and Philippe C. Schmitter
9. Consequences of Regionalism: the Politics of North American Trade | Mark Aspinwall
10. The OMC in Comparative Perspective: Learning and Community Building in the OECD and Nordic Council of Ministers | Peter Nedergaard and Francesco Duina
11. Interregionalism, a Critique: The Four Levels of EU-ASEAN Relations | David Camroux
12. The Parliamentary Dimension of Regionalism: Comparing Experiences in Europe’s Neighbourhood | Stelios Stavridis & Panagiota Manoli
13. EU and its Neighbours: A Wider Europe through Asymmetrical Interregionalism or Through Dependencia Sub-regionalism? | Charalambos Tsardanidis
14. Conclusions: Learning or Comparison in the Study of Regions? Fruitful Dialogues and Future Research Directions | Nick Robinson and Alex Warleigh-Lack