New Regionalism and the European Union: Dialogues, Comparisons and New Research Directions

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.

Alex Warleigh-Lack is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Brunel University, London and Associate Fellow at the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies Centre, UNU-CRIS, in Bruges. He is the author or editor of thirteen books and edited volumes, and has published widely on EU politics, EU studies as an academic pursuit, and comparative regional integration.

Nick Robinson is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Leeds. His research interests encapsulate a broad array of interests within the area of public policy and politics including comparative regionalism, the politics of redistribution and an evolving interest in videogames. Recent publications have appeared in a number of journals such as Journal of Common Market Studies, Comparative European Politics and Journal of Power.
Ben Rosamond is Professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen and founding co-editor of the journal Comparative European Politics. Until the end of 2010 he was Professor and head of the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He has published extensively on theories of European integration and the role of ideas in contemporary European political economy.

1. Introduction: Regions, Regionalism and Comparisons Alex Warleigh-Lack and Nick Robinson 2. Studying Regions Comparatively: Back to the Future? Ben Rosamond and Alex Warleigh-Lack 3. Learning from the New Regionalism? What, if Anything, can Insights from New Regionalist Scholarship Offer for Studies of European Integration? Nick Robinson 4. Africa Meets Europe: Towards Comparative Regionalism Fredrik Söderbaum 5. East Asian Regionalism and the European Experience: Differences in Leadership, Possible Lessons Jeff Loder, Jean Michel Montsion and Richard Stubbs 6. Institutions, Culture or Ethics? The Logic of Regionalism in Europe and East Asia William A. Callahan 7. The Demise of New Regionalism: Reframing the Study of Contemporary Regional Integration in Latin America Nicola Phillips and Germán C. Prieto Corredor 8. The Experience Of European Integration And The Potential For Integration In South America Andrés Malamud and Philippe C. Schmitter 9. Consequences of Regionalism: the Politics of North American Trade Mark Aspinwall 10. The OMC in Comparative Perspective: Learning and Community Building in the OECD and Nordic Council of Ministers Peter Nedergaard and Francesco Duina 11. Interregionalism, a Critique: The Four Levels of EU-ASEAN Relations David Camroux 12. The Parliamentary Dimension of Regionalism: Comparing Experiences in Europe’s Neighbourhood Stelios Stavridis & Panagiota Manoli 13. EU and its Neighbours: A Wider Europe through Asymmetrical Interregionalism or Through Dependencia Sub-regionalism? Charalambos Tsardanidis 14. Conclusions: Learning or Comparison in the Study of Regions? Fruitful Dialogues and Future Research Directions Nick Robinson and Alex Warleigh-Lack