In today's interconnected, differentiated and polarized European Union, sub-regional groupings between the national and EU level are a highly relevant empirical phenomenon. Despite their importance, the interactions between sub-regionalisms and EU actors and processes remain under-researched. This book fills this large research gap by applying a systematic comparative approach. Taking into account a huge corpus of empirical data gained through expert interviews and document analysis, this study provides the conceptual and empirical groundwork necessary to better understand EU sub-regionalism. For the timeframe between 2009 and 2018, it analyses the scope of sub-regional cooperation in the Baltic, Benelux and Visegrád groupings. Moreover, it compares their respective institutional design, political identity, foreign policy as well as their external recognition by EU actors. A special focus lies on their role in six EU policy cases, including EU budget negotiations, TTIP, the drafting process of the EU Global Strategy, refugee relocation quotas, the revision of the posted workers directive and defence cooperation through PESCO. In its conclusion, this book identifies two sub-regional archetypes: functional hubs and political tools. While differing in many regards, the shared assessment finds that the overall bridge-building efforts of the Baltic, Benelux and Visegrád sub-regionalisms exceed their spoiling potential.

China faces significant hurdles in implementing its Belt and Road Initiative. Since its launch a decade ago, the BRI has become a crucial component of Chinese external economic relations. It has the potential to alter the economic and political landscape of Asia but also Europe. As such, the Belt and Road initiative have placed China at the heart of geopolitics in the Eurasian region but also globally. Therefore, China faces significant hurdles in implementing these initiatives, with many countries and organizations around the world becoming increasingly weary of China’s BRI and geopolitical strategy. This book examines these issues of the BRI and analyzes the impact of the BRI on Chinese involvement in Asia and Europe. It sheds light on the strategic responses of host country governments and regional economic organizations, as well as the reactions of Chinese and other multinational companies, and ultimately the Chinese government. This book will appeal to scholars, researchers and practitioners of International Business and Policy, particularly those interested in the BRI and China’s geo-economic influence. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Beginning in 1983/84 published in 3 vols., with expansion to 6 vols. by 2007/2008: vol. 1--Organization descriptions and cross references; vol. 2--Geographic volume: international organization participation; vol. 3--Subject volume; vol. 4--Bibliography and resources; vol. 5--Statistics, visualizations and patterns; vol. 6--Who's who in international organizations. (From year to year some slight variations in naming of the volumes).