Limits to Regional Integration

Regionalisation in general and regional integration in particular have taken place at a growing pace since the end of the Cold War, when states were set free from various security overlays. Regional integration is ‘logical’ as it is supposed to advance wealth and peace. Still, the picture is far from clear and the process of regional integration is not automatic; disintegration takes place, as we saw in the cases of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia to mention a few. This is the case not only in states recently brought together but also in traditional states like Britain, The Netherlands and Spain where strong groups strive for independence. In some places regionalisation is flourishing, but regional integration is not. Some regional integration projects like the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mercosur seem to stagnate. Certainly there are limits to regional integration.

This volume, written by high profiled academics, covers these themes by examining eleven cases ranging from the lack of integration in the Arctic and the Middle East, to ongoing or progressing integration in Europe to uncover what ‘blocks’ regional integration, the results of which are used for developing new theoretical insights.

Contents:
+ Preface, Søren Dosenrode
+ On regional integration, Søren Dosenrode
+ Arctic regionalization, Lise Lyck
+ The trajectory of Arab non-integration: historical reconstruction and theoretical explanation, Wolfgang Zank
+ China and regional integration in East Asia: opportunities, constraints and challenges, Li Xing and Zhang Shengjun
+ Rethinking the (European) foundations of sub-Saharan African regional economic integration, Peter Draper and Morisho Mwana Biningo Nene
+ Political dialogue in South America: the role of South American Nations Union, Javier Fernando Luchetti
+ Central American integration: prospects for a troubled region, Peter Abrahamson; Loosely-coupled confederalism: the Commonwealth of Independent States and the post-Soviet space, Stephen Aris and Mark Webber
+ Interdependence, leadership and institutionalization: the triple deficit and fading prospects of Mercosur, Andrés Malamud
+ Is North America unravelling? Transformations of regionalism in North America, Jeffrey Ayres and Laura Macdonald
+ Spill-back: the Faroe Islands’ zigzag towards independence, Søren Dosenrode
+ No limits to European integration? Institutional change in response to the financial crisis, Wolfgang Zank
+ Limits to regional integration: equilibrium and spill-back, Søren Dosenrode