Cross-border regions are newly emerging social spaces stretching across national borders. Globalization makes national borders more permeable and leads to a rearrangement of economic and political interactions. This is particularly pronounced within supra-regional blocs featuring specific internal border regimes. The ensuing opportunities are increasingly seized to create border-spanning discourses and institutions. This is illustrated in the book by a range of experts analyzing cross-border regions in Europe, America, East Asia and Africa.

The book provides new insight into the role of organised business interests. It supports the concept of political economy and demonstrates how it transcends the limitations of CPE or IPE, to form a coherent whole. The book maps the conflict, convergence and influence of organized business interests in the context of regional integration.

This volume examines the prominent role of China in global politics and the relevance of the 'new regionalism' paradigm to China's international outreach. It provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of China's impact on the global politics of regionalization, offers a novel application of analytical models, investigates the aspects of the Chinese practice of regionalization that set it apart, and demonstrates China's transformative potential in international life. Addressing the need to 're-Orient' the research and policy agenda of international relations, this comprehensive study demonstrates both the lack of language to engage with existing norms and standards and the difficulty of applying them to an evaluation of the global politics of China's 'non-Western' international agency.

This is the first of five volumes reporting on the UNU-WIDER study on New Regionalism. It deals with the conceptions and meanings of two processes which probably will have a crucial influence on the shape of the 'new world order' - globalization and regionalization. These studies relate to each other as challenge to response, globalization being the challenge of economic and cultural homogenization of the world and regionalization being a social and political reaction. The leading writers in the field contribute thought-provoking and fascinating articles to this volume.

Interregionalism, the institutionalized relations between world regions, is a new phenomenon in international relations. It also a new layer of development in an increasingly differentiated global order. This volume examines the structure of this phenomenon and the scholarly discourse it is generating. It takes stock of empirical facts and theoretical explanations, bringing together with clarity and concision the latest research on this key area. This essential new book: * traces the emergence of interregionalism and reviews the latest literature * provides a conceptual and theoretical framework for study * includes case studies of inter-regional relations between: Asia and America; Asia and Europe; Europe and America; and Europe and Africa. * delivers comparative analyses and special cases such as continental summits and interregional relationships beyond the Triad. * summarizes and evaluates the findings of each chapter, providing a basis for further research. This is a key reference book for students and researchers of regionalism, global governance and international relations.

The present era is an era of interconnectedness. In the present context we are trying to explore the multifaceted dimensions of globalization through a book called “Globalization: exploring its Concepts and Debates”. It is a collection of research papers and articles contributed by esteemed academicians from different backgrounds. This book serves as a comprehensive guide, unravelling the complexities of globalization across various disciplines including economics, politics, sociology, culture, science and technology and so on. It explores how globalization has influenced economic systems, trade patterns, flow of capital etc. presenting a nuanced understanding of its impact on both the developing and developed countries. Furthermore, this book delves into the political dimensions of globalization including power dynamics, governance structures, international relations etc. Moreover, this book also addresses the socio-cultural aspects of globalization investing its impact on religion, identity, culture, gender, social movements. Through a series of thought-provoking analysis and insightful discussions, this book will attract the readers to critically engage with the topic of globalization and its opportunities and challenges. It will further definitely be an indispensable resource for academicians, scholars, students, policymakers and anyone who has an interest in understanding globalization in the present scenario.

Despite rapid urbanisation, Africa remains predominantly rural. This calls for decentralisation beyond the dominant concern by states and government with urban spaces. Rural areas, rural development and the future of rural settlements need to be understood and addressed in the context of the ongoing democratisation trends and the emergence and development of civil society. States have tended to tame rather than serve civil society in Africa. By establishing a single cultural reference and imposing a centralised state, African governments have exacerbated the fragmentation of civil society. However, political pluralism has slowly been gaining ground since the 1990s. This book explores the scope for implementing decentralisation programmes that focus on citizens in rural areas. For the purpose of decentralisation, civic participation in local politics and user participation in development programmes must be seen as two sides of the coin. The book focuses on spatial planning - a process concerned with spatial organisation in an integrative manner, and incorporates the design, establishment and implementation of a desired spatial structural organisation of land. This is especially relevant in a context where the formulation of guidelines for spatial development at the overall level of a state is inadequate.

The Political Economy of Regionalism: The Case of Southern Africa challenges prevailing wisdom, showing how ruling political elites and 'big business' join forces with certain external actors in order to promote market integration and economic globalization, boost regimes, and to satisfy group-specific and even personal interests. Only rarely do these forms of regionalism contribute to the poor and disadvantaged, who instead opt out, and survive through informal economic regionalisms or seek to create regionalisms rooted in civil society.

Introducing readers to the far-reaching global orientation that is now taking place in urban China, an international team of contributors examine the impact of globalization on Chinese cities, including the economic, cultural and political impact.