Regions that matter: the Arab–South American interregional space

Abstract

This article critiques interregionalism as a concept that is trapped in the European Union (EU) foreign policy toolkit narrative, which in turn structures what can be said meaningfully and legitimately about interregionalism. Drawing on the experience of the Arab–South American (ASPA) Summit, it shows that, when speaking on interregionalism in International Relations (IR), one need not be speaking about the EU interregional model, which is understood as a vertical relationship established between the EU and an objectified regional partner of its choice. Rather, a broader definition for interregionalism is proposed, one that builds up from the basic ‘region-to-region’ dialogue–arrangement–cooperation and interrogates the meaning it has for those who engage in this practice. This was made possible by the construction of a framework for the analysis of the practices that lead to the materialisation of the ASPA interregional discourse and that reveal how this form of interregionalism in the Global South ‘matters’ in IR.