A WORLD OF REGIONS

Governments associations, societies, and groups form regional organizations and/or

networks as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization. Globalization has made people
aware of the world in general, but it has also made Filipinos more cognizant of specific areas such as
Southeast Asia. How, for instance, did the Philippines come to identify itself with the Southeast Asian
region? Why is it part of a regional grouping known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)?
While regionalism is often seen as a political and economic phenomenon the term actually
encompasses a broader area. It can be examined in relation to identities, ethics, religion, ecological
sustainability, and health. Regionalism is also a process, and must be treated as an "emergent, socially
constituted phenomenon." It means that regions are not natural or given: rather, they are constructed
and defined by policymakers, economic actors, and even social movements.

Countries, Regions, and Globalization

Edward D. Mansfield and Helen V. Milner state that economic and political definitions of
regions vary but there are certain basic features that everyone can agree on. First, regions “are group
of countries located in the same geographically specified area” or are “an amalgamation of two
regions [or] a combination of more than two regions organized to regulate and "oversee flows and
policy choices. Second, the words regionalization and regionalism should not be interchanged, as the
former refers to the "regional concentration of economic flows” while the latter is political process
characterized by economic policy cooperation and coordination among countries
Countries respond economically and politically to globalization in various ways. Some are
large enough and have a lot of resources to dictate how they participate in processes of global
integration. China, for example, offers its cheap and huge workforce to attract foreign businesses and
expand trade with countries it once considered its enemies but now sees as markets for its goods
(e.g. The United States and Japan). Other countries make up for their small size by taking advantage
of their strategic location. Singapore and Switzerland compensate for their lack of resources by
turning themselves into financial and banking hubs. Singapore developed its harbor facilities and
made them a first class transit port for ships carrying different commodities from Africa, Europe, the
Middle East and mainland Southeast Asia to Countries in the Asia-Pacific. In most cases, however
countries form regional alliance for the saying there is strength in numbers.
Countries form regional associations for several reasons. One is for military defense. The
most widely known defense grouping is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed
during the Cold War when several Western European countries plus the United States agreed to
protect Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by creating its
regional alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the Eastern European countries under Soviet
domination. The Soviet Union imploded in December 1991, but NATO remains in place.
Countries also form regional organizations to pool their resources, get better returns for their
exports, as well as expand their leverage against trading partners. The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and
Venezuela to regulate the production and sale of oil. This regional alliance flexed its muscles in the
1970s when its member took over domestic production and dictated crude oil prices in the world
market. In a world highly dependent on oil, this integration became a source of immense power. OPEC
success convinced nine other producing countries to join it.
 Moreover, there are countries that from regional blocs to protect their independence from
the pressures of superpower politics. The presidents of Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia and Yugoslavia
created the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) in 1961 to pursue world peace and international
cooperation, human rights, national sovereignty, racial and national equality, non-intervention, and
peaceful conflict resolution. It is called itself non-aligned because the association refused to side with
either the First World capitalist democracies in Western Europe and North America or the
communist states in Eastern Europe. At its peak the NAM had 120 member countries. The movement,
however was never formalized and continues to as up to the present although it lacks the same fervor
that it had in the past
Finally, economic crisis compels countries to come together The Thai economy collapsed in
1996 after foreign currency speculators and troubled international banks demanded that the Thai
government pay back its loans. A rapid withdrawal of foreign investment bankrupted the economy.
This crisis begin to spread to other Asian countries as their currencies were also devalued and foreign
investments left in a hurry. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) tried to reverse the crisis, but it
was only after the ASEAN countries along with China, Japan and South Korea agreed to establish an
emergency fund to anticipate a crisis that the Asian economies stabilized.
The crisis made ASEAN more “unified and coordinated”. The Association has come a long way
since it was formed as a coalition of countries which were pro-American and supportive of the United
States intervention in Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, ASEAN continued to act as a military alliance
to isolate Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia, but there were also the beginnings of Economic
cooperation.
Non-State Regionalism
It is not only states that agree to work together in the name of single cause (or causes).
Communities also engage in regional organizing. This “new regionalism” varies in form; they can be
“tiny associations that include no more than a few actors and focus on a single issues, or huge
continental unions that address a multitude of common problems from territorial defense to food
security. Organization representing this “new regionalism” likewise rely on the power individuals,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and associations to link up with one another in pursuit of
a particular goal (or goals). Finally, “new regionalism” is identified with reformists who share the
same "values, norms, institutions, and system that exist outside of the traditional, established
mainstream institutions and systems.
Their strategies and tactics likewise vary. Some organizations partner with governments to
initiate social change. Those who work with governments (legitimizers) participate in "institutional
mechanisms that afford some civil society groups voice and influence in technocratic policy-making
processes.” For example, the ASEAN issued its Human Rights Declaration in 2009, but the regional
body left it to member countries to apply the declaration principles as they see fit. Aware that
democratic rights are limited in many ASEAN countries, “new regionalism” organizations used this
official declaration to pressure these governments to pass laws and regulations that protect and
promote human rights. Other regional organizations dedicate themselves to specialized causes.
Activists across Central and South America established the Rainforest Foundation to protect
indigenous peoples and the rainforests in Brazil, Guyana, Panama and Peru. Young Christians across
Asia, Africa, the Middle East the America and the Caribbean formed Regional Interfaith Youth
Networks to promote conflict prevention, resolution, peace education, and sustainable development.
The Migrant Forum is another regional network of NGOs and trade unions committed to protecting
and promoting the rights and welfare of migrant workers.
These organizations primary powers in their moral standing and their ability to combine
lobbying with pressure politics. Unfortunately, most of them are poorly financed, which places them
at disadvantage when dealing with their official counterparts who have large state funds. The impact
in global politics is therefore, limited.
 New regionalism differs significantly from traditional state to-state regionalism when it
comes to identifying problems. For example, states treat poverty or environmental degradation as
technical or economic issues that can be resolved by refining existing programs of state agencies,
making minor changes in economic policies and creating new offices that address these Issues.
However, new regionalism advocates such as the NGO Global Forum see these issues as
reflections of flawed economic development and environmental models. By flawed, they mean
economic development plans that are market-based, profit-driven, and hardly concerned with social
welfare, especially among the poor.
Another challenge for new regionalists is the discord that may emerge among them. For
example, disagreements surface over issues like gender and relation with pro-choice NGOs breaking
from religious civil society groups that side with the Church, Muslim imams, or governments opposed
to reproductive rights and other women policies. Moreover, while civil society groups are able to
dialogue with government, the latter may not be welcoming to this new trend and set up one
Obstacle after another. Migrant Forum Asia and its ally, the Coordination of Action Research on AIDS
(CARAM), lobbied ASEAN governments to defend migrant labor rights. Their program of action,
however, slowed down once countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand refused to recognize
the rights of undocumented migrant workers and the rights of the families of migrants.
Contemporary Challenges to Regionalism
Today, regionalism faces multiple challenges, the most serious of which is the resurgence of
militant nationalism and populism. The refusal to dismantle NATO after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, for example, has become the basis of the anti-NATO rhetoric of Vladimir Putin in Russia. Now,
even the relationship of the United States-the alliance's core member-with NATO has become
problematic after Donald Trump demonized the organization as simply leeching off American
military power without giving anything in return.
Perhaps the most crisis-ridden regional organization of today is the European Union. The
continuing financial crisis of the region is forcing countries like Greece to consider leaving the Union
to gain more flexibility in their economic policy. Anti-immigrant sentiment and a populist campaign
against Europe have already led to the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union in a move
the media has termed the “Brexit”
ASEAN members continue to disagree over the extent to which member countries should
sacrifice their sovereignty for the sake of regional stability. The Association's link with East Asia has
also been problematic. Recently, ASEAN countries also disagreed over how to relate to China, with
the Philippines unable to get the other countries to support its condemnation of Chinas occupation
of the West Philippine Sea. Cambodia and Laos led the opposition favoring diplomacy over
confrontation, but the real reason was the dramatic increase of Chinese investments and economic
aid to these countries. Moreover, when some formerly authoritarian countries democratized, this
participatory regionalism" clashed with ASEAN's policy of non-interference, as civil society groups in
Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand demanded that the other countries democratized adopt a
more open attitude towards foreign criticism.
A final challenge pertains to differing visions of what regionalism should be for. Western
governments may see regional organizations not simply as economic formations, but also as
instruments of political democratization. Non-Western and developing societies, however, may have
a different view regarding globalization, development, and democracy. Singapore, China, and Russia
see democracy as an obstacle to the implementation and deepening of economic globalization
because constant public inquiry about economic projects and lengthy debate slow down
implementation or lead to unclear outcomes. Democracy’s tedious procedures must, therefore, give
way to efficiency.