This edited volume transcends conventional state-centric and formalistic notions of regionalism and theorizes, conceptualizes and analyzes the complexities and contradictions of regionalization processes in contemporary Africa. The collection not only unpacks and theorizes the African state-society complex with regard to new regionalism, but also explicitly integrates the often neglected discourse of human security and human development. In so doing, the book moves the discussion of new regionalism forward at the same time as it adds important insights to security and development. It is organized into three parts. Part I theorizes, conceptualizes and analyzes the new regionalism in Africa from the point of view of the region (e.g. West, East, Central and Southern Africa). The national perspectives in Part II focus on the new regionalism in Africa from the point of view of particular countries or specific state-society complexes, such as Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the enclave of Cabinda, Angola and Zambia. Part III contains two concluding chapters that tie the main threads of the volume together, theoretically and empirically, and discuss the contribution of the analytical framework, the new regionalism approach (NRA) to the larger study of regionalism.

The debates on regionalism have been polarized between European Union (EU) scholars and non-EU scholars, with the assumption being that regionalism within the EU and other regions of the world are quite distinct, with little to be learnt from dialogue with each other. This book challenges such assumptions and calls for a genuine debate between scholars of regionalism. This book demonstrates that more can and needs to be learned about regional integration all over the world through comparison and reflection on specific regional trends. Beginning with a theoretically driven introduction, leading experts in the field are brought together to offer a series of case studies on regional integration within Latin America, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. In Part III the authors investigate the links between the EU and selected other regional organisations and processes, exploring the dynamics through which these interregional relations are developing and the implications they have for the study of contemporary regionalism/regionalisation both inside and beyond the continent of Europe. The conclusions set out a challenging research agenda for comparative studies in the field. Addressing one of the under-explored aspects of EU studies, the EU’s coexistence with other pan-continental/regional organisations in the European continent, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of regionalism, IPE, European Studies and international politics.

The contributions identify and review current issues of regionalism and regional integration within the era of globalization in the African context. Their approaches present different theoretical and regional perspectives which provide new insights, challenge existing concepts and perceptions and contribute to an enriched debate.

This book is dedicated to the implications of the new regionalism for global security and development. The fourth in the five-volume New Regionalism Series, it features contributions from the UNU/WIDER project on new regionalism.

Stemming from an international and multidisciplinary network of leading specialists, this best-selling text is fully updated with new chapter additions. With the first edition prepared at the end of the last century, this new edition anticipates the world of regionalism as we move further into this millennium. This new edition offers: " A vigorous response to conventional wisdom on EU international identity. " An exploration of key issues of regionalism versus globalization and the potential for world economic and political governance through regionalism. " A key resource for postgraduate or undergraduate study and research of international relations, European studies, comparative politics and international political economy. Taking into account the expanded European Union, the volume comprises contributions from established scholars in the field to highlight external relations in the framework of the development of regional arrangements within the globalized world of the 21st century.

This book interrogates the extent to which regional civil society organisations have evolved as actors in West Africa. Examining civil society democratic participation in regional integration and involvement in regionalism of peacebuilding, it rethinks how we study civil society in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. Beyond the functional typology of civil society actors as ‘partner’, ‘legitimiser’, ‘resistance/counter-hegemonic’ and ‘manipulator’, the book develops a new analytical framework to understand how organisations such as the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) and West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) have evolved. Offering analytical perspectives of the actorship of specific regional civil society actors, the book draws attention to the tendencies in the previous studies of mistaking an action or misdeed that is empirically specific to particular civil society organisations within a region to the generality of the civic space of the region. Providing an alternative perspective aimed at invoking a new intellectual conversation about civil society regionalism this book advances a new analytical framework of action-based regional identity of civil society, regional presence of activities, regional capacities and societal impact. It will be of interest to academics and scholars of international relations, global governance, African politics and comparative regionalism.

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.

Stemming from an international and multidisciplinary network of leading specialists, this best-selling text is fully updated with new chapter additions. With the first edition prepared at the end of the last century and the second edition adding inter-regional relations, this new edition focuses on competing models of regional cooperation within a multipolar world and the role of the European Union.

A critical appraisal of regionalism as a key strategy in Africa's development explaining the failures thus far of attempts at regional integration on the continent. This is the first text to highlight the main features of the new post-1990 regional initiatives such as the all-embracing African Economic Community and World Bank, IMF, African Development Bank, EC and French initiatives and the challenges to Africa from trading blocs elsewhere in the post-Uruguay Round environment.

Regionalism is once again being viewed as a solution to the major international economic problems of our times. Slow progress of the negotiations at the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has led some economists to conclude that a division of the world into three trading blocs -- Europe, the Americas, and East Asia, is the fastest road to multilateral free trade. They argue that negotiations for free trade are far more likely to succeed when conducted among three parties rather than among 154. For many countries, the proliferation of nontariff barriers in the industrial world has made regional integration an attractive policy option. However, the experience with South-South integration has been discouraging, and some economists claim that any temptation to promote such schemes in the future should be resisted. As for North-North integration, it has been widely successful in Europe. Intraregional trade expanded greatly, but not at the expense of trade with non-partners, which also grew rapidly. And European integration has greatly diminished, if not eliminated, the possibility of future internal conflicts. Looking to the future, North-South integration holds much promise for developing countries. Regional arrangements of this type can solidify past reforms, guarantee future access to a large market, and stimulate growth via increased direct foreign investment, more intense competition and faster technological diffusion.