International Relations: The Story of Regions
Want a better global look at the world, international relations, and the structure of the international arena? Start with regionalism.
I was gradually introduced to regionalism as a tool for international problem solving throughout my first two years as a political science major at a Canadian university. Then, I took a course: Regional International Organizations. What was a general interest and basic knowledge of global geography turned into a working view of the entire world in terms of political decision-making. After learning about regionalism in international relations no country is a black hole in my mind, all states are interconnected, and all corners of the world are somewhat conceptualized.
What do I mean by ‘regionalism’? Regionalism is a relatively new way that international relations scholars and actors come to organize state policy to solve issues that reside on ‘regional’ levels. That’s right, you have to start with ‘regions’.
This is an interesting project in conceptualization. It is seemingly agreed upon that Europe or North America or the Middle East or South Africa are regions. However, they are so obviously regions because geographically, they are contiguous — the borders of member states touch. Can non-contiguous states form a region? The Asia-Pacific states don’t necessarily touch but they are all remotely sharing regional space within the South China Sea. But let’s bring this thought further: can a ‘region’ form around ideas, norms, customs, identities, or shared conceptions of goals? Organizations like North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the World Trade Organization may embody ideals of shared defence customs or favour strategies for free trade of goods respectively.
You can begin to see how an understanding of the world’s ‘regions’ and regional international organizations can structure a comprehensive understanding of world politics. For example, take the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN in a regional organization primarily dedicated to mimic the success that the European Union (EU) has had in integrating economies and financial markets driving regional economic development followed by social and political development. In this organization, Indonesia has historically played a dominant role, defining regional economic agendas for the region and setting normative statements with the promotion of institutional regional goals.
Consider another of the world’s regional organizations — apart from the EU, the typical example of a regional project — the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Including 15 states in Africa’s southern region, SADC represents a regional project promoting ideals of economic integration and common security. With the most international wealth and political power, South Africa leads the organization although often reluctantly. SADC has faced challenges in addressing intra-state conflicts within member states including one in Mozambique and another in Lesotho. In these two conflicts, South Africa was forced to intervene almost unilaterally due to the fractured nature of the organization. With South Africa leading one coalition and Zimbabwe leading the other, the successful execution of further defence and economic integration remains hindered by these conflicting sides. As seen, organizing an understanding of world politics by region allows for the understanding of specific regional issues and the states that act on them.
The Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCC) shows that regional organizations can function for specific goals. Including Eurasian states like Russia, Kazakhstan, and China and housing a developed network of oil and gas pipelines, a specific function of the SCO is clearly trade and economic movement between two of the world’s powers, China and Russia. In addition, the SCO shows that the normative function of regional organizations — that is, the ideals, customs, and norms promoted by an actor — can be used to empower the ideals of one state in opposition to another. Consider the SCOs founding pillar and dedication to the maintenance of status quo regimes. This characteristically undemocratic goal contributes further to the East-West oppositional dynamic.
Many people lack an understanding of the world as a whole — the world’s political geography and relationships between counties. Looking at the world split into administrative regions, international organizations and institutions delegated authority by the United Nations itself, allows you to see the world in its component parts. Yes, it is true that the complexity of world politics is not in any way diminished. But it offers a general and helpful perspective of the organization of international politics and power.
