A WORLD OF

REGIONS
• Regionalism is often seen as a political and economic
phenomenon.

• It is a phenomenon in international trade where states create

groups for the purposes of trade and to collectively reduce
barriers of trade among the members of a group. Most of this
phenomenon appears in the form of Regional Trade
Agreements (RTA)

• REGIONALISM is 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 movement.
Basic Features of Regions

1. Regions are “a group of countries located in the same

geographically specified area” or are “an amalgation of two
regions or a combination of more than two regions”
organized to regulate and oversee flows and policy choices.

2. The words regionalization and regionalism should not be

interchanged, as the former refers to the “Regional
concentration of economic flows” while the latter is “a
political process characterized by economic policy
cooperation and coordination among countries.”
Regionalization is defined as an increase in the cross-border flow
of capital, goods, and people within a specific geographical
area. In contrast, regionalism is defined as a political will (hence
ism is attached as a suffix) to create a formal arrangement
among states on a geographically restricted basis.
Countries Form Regional Associations for Several Reasons
1. For military defense
2. To pool their resources, get better returns for their exports, as
well as expand their leverage against trading partners.
3. To protect their independence from the pressures of
superpower politics.
4. Economic crisis compels countries to come together.
NON – STATE REGIONALISM
• It is not only states that agree to work together in the name of
single cause. 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 issue, or huge continental unions that
address a multitude of common problems from territorial
defense to food security.
• Organizations representing this “New Regionalism” likewise
rely on the power of individuals, Non – Governmental
Organizations (NGO’s), and association to link up with one
another in pursuit of a particular goal.
North-South
Divide
BRANDT LINE

The Brandt Line is a visual depiction of the North-South divide

between their economies, based on GDP per capita, proposed
by Willy Brandt in the 1980s. It encircles the world at a latitude of
30° N, passing between North and Central America, north of
Africa and India, but lowered towards the south to include
Australia and New Zealand above the line.
NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE
• The North-South Divide (or Rich-Poor Divide) is the socio-economic and
political division that exists between the wealthy developed countries,
known collectively as “the North,” and the poorer developing countries
(least developed countries), or “the South.”
• Although most nations comprising the “North” are in fact located in the
Northern Hemisphere, the divide is not primarily defined by geography.
• “The North” mostly covers the West and the First World, with much of the
Second World.
• The expression “North-South divide” is still in common use, but the terms
“North” and “South” are already somewhat outdated.
• As nations become economically developed, they may become part
of the “North,” regardless of geographical location, while any other
nations which do not qualify for “developed” status are in effect
deemed to be part of the “South.”
• The North is home to four out of five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council and all members of the G8.
GLOBAL SOUTH
• The Global South is a term that has been emerging in the
transnational and postcolonial studies to refer to what may
also be called the “Third World,” “developing countries,” “less
developed countries,” and “less developed regions.”
• It can also include poorer “southern” regions of wealthy
“northern” countries.
• Global South is more than the extension of a “metaphor for
underdeveloped countries.”
• In general, it refers to those countries’ “interconnected
histories of colonialism, neo-imperialism, and differential
economic and social change through which large inequalities
in living standards, life expectancy, and access to resources
are maintained.’
• Both a reality and provisional work in progress
ASIAN REGIONALISM
• Asian regionalism is the product of economic
interaction, not political planning

• As a result of successful outward oriented growth

strategies, Asian economies have grown not only
richer, but also closer together.

• East Asian economies, in particular, focused on

exporting to developed country markets rather than
selling to each other.
• Economies moved in formation not because they
were directly linked to each other, but because they
followed similar paths.

• Interdependence is deepening because Asia’s

economies have grown large and prosperous enough
to become important to each other, and because
their patterns of production increasingly depend on
networks that span several Asian economies and
involve wide ranging exchanges of parts and
components among them.
REGIONALISM VS GLOBALIZATION
REGIONALISM VS GLOBALIZATION

Regionalism is the process of dividing an area into

smaller segments called regions. Example is the division
of nation into states or provinces.

On the other hand, globalization is the process of

international integration arising from interchange of
world views, products, ideas, and other aspects, such as
technology, etc.
• As to nature, globalization promotes the integration of economics
across state borders all around the world but regionalization is
precisely the opposite because it is dividing an area in smaller
segments.
• As to market, globalization allows many companies to trade on
international level so it allows free market but in regionalized
system, monopolies are likely to develop.
• As to cultural and societal relations, globalization accelerate to
multiculturalism by free and inexpensive movement of people but,
regionalization does not support this.
• As to aid, globalized international community is also more willing to
come to the aid of a country stricken by a natural disaster but, a
regionalized system does not get involved in the affairs of other
areas.
• As to technological advances, globalization has driven great
advances in technology but advanced technology is rarely
available in one country or region.
FACTORS LEADING TO THE GREATER INTEGRATION
OF THE ASIAN REGIONS
• Regionalization integration is a process in which
neighboring states enter into an agreement in order
to upgrade cooperation through common institutions
and rules.

• The objectives of the agreement could range from

economic to political to environmental, although it
has typically taken the form of a political economy
initiative where commercial interests are the focus for
achieving broader socio-political and security
objectives, as defined by national governments.
• Regional integration has been organized either via
supranational institutional structures or through
intergovernmental decision-making, or a combination
of both.

• Past efforts at regional integration have often focused

on removing barriers to free trade in the region,
increasing the free movement of people, labor,
goods, and capital across national borders, reducing
the possibilities of regional armed conflict, and
adopting cohesive regional stances on policy issues,
such as environment, climate change and migration.