Europe Of Regions Research Articles

The Resilience of Latin American Regionalism: A Neofunctionalist Perspective

AbstractLatin America has seen both recurrent crises and a surprising resilience of its regional organizations. This article explores how different approaches have attempted to explain this seemingly paradoxical record. Combining insights from European Union (EU) studies and comparative regionalism, we ask whether neofunctionalism as a theoretical approach developed for the study of the EU can travel across the Atlantic and enrich the analysis of Latin American regionalism. Neofunctionalist theorists posited that functional spillover could lead to politicization and subsequent deepening of regional integration. But while spillover has been the engine of European integration, it has never been a real option in Latin America. Past applications of neofunctionalist approaches to Latin American regionalism have therefore above all revealed its limitations. Comparative regionalism approaches fared better in that they identified characteristics that account for the repeated crises of Latin American regional organizations. However, this article suggests that the “second-best” strategies mentioned in neofunctionalist analyses, such as encapsulation, spill-around, or even spillback, can help explain the resilience of regionalism in Latin America. While those strategies posed an obstacle to deeper integration, as shown by classical neofunctionalist studies, we draw on a set of case studies to illustrate that Latin American regionalism survived through expansion (spill-around) rather than deepening (spillover), as well as through encapsulation and, in some cases, even spillback. A new reading of neofunctionalism therefore helps to explain the resilience of Latin American regionalism under adverse conditions.

Regionalism and liberal nationalism in the European Union. A case Sui Generis?

ABSTRACT Ernst B. Haas pioneered the formation of European integration studies outside the field of International Relations. The European Coal and Steal Community of 1951 was already more supranational than any existing international organisation to date. Supranationalism subsequently expanded with European integration. In his attempt to account for the supranationalism of European regionalism, Haas had developed his neofunctionalism as a general theory, which could be applied to other regions as well as the global level. EU scholars, in contrast, began to treat the EU as a case sui generis insisting on its unique supranational nature. The paper revisits the question of the uniqueness of European regionalism. Combining Ernst Haas’ works on supranational regionalism and liberal nationalism, the EU is approached as a strong form of supranational regionalism that has transformed interstate relations in Europe towards what he called ‘cosmopolitan internationalism’. The paper argues that liberal nationalism is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for this transformation. It, however, provides an explanation for the contestation of the EU as a model of liberal regionalism by non-liberal forms of nationalism.

ENERGY REGIONALISM IN WIDER EUROPE: SUB-REGIONAL ENERGY DYNAMICS AND THE EU’S EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

This article investigates energy regionalism in wider Europe, examining extra-regional and intra-regional challenges. In recent years, the European Union (EU) has taken concrete steps to enhance its energy security and reduce its dependence on Russia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has further highlighted the critical dimension of the energy crisis between Russia and the EU. This study emphasizes the vital role of sub-regional energy dynamics in regional policy formulation and criticizes the EU's regional approach. In this realm, the article assesses the EU's Eastern Partnership through the Caucasus Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and the Northeast Europe Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus). Thus, countries' recent initiatives will be investigated to demonstrate how they cope with issues of energy security. In the end, the article underlines the necessity for the adoption of tailor-made sub-regional energy policies by the EU. For Northeast Europe Eastern Partnership countries, the EU needs to support energy market liberalization and stability, invest in critical infrastructural developments, foster effective dispute resolution mechanisms, and maintain transparent transit conditions. For Caucasus Eastern Partnership countries, the EU needs to facilitate multilateral energy cooperation and dialogue, promote energy market liberalization, and facilitate energy interconnection. In short, strong political leadership and continuous efforts to foster collaboration and interconnectivity in wider Europe are necessary to enhance energy security.

Integration and Disintegration in Europe: A Study on Brexit

Regionalism is the creation of political, economic, or social structures loyal to a detailed analysis of a Geographic area with a similar population in terms of ideology and culture. Capitalism and state-to-state diplomacy are fundamentally based on regional integration. The ideas emphasize how interdependent and geographically significant states are. These nations are widely acknowledged as a single commercial bloc and are pursuing more ambitious political and economic goals. To accomplish this, member states' capitalism and intergovernmental systems come together. The European Union (EU) is Europe's attempt to become a regional organization, the most significant effort to establish regionalism in markets in the 20th century. The United Kingdom (UK) will leave the European Union on March 29 2019, leading to a new course in the world. When on June 23 2016, a majority voted in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (EU), it generated a host of unknowns. Over to the referendum, all are focused on anticipating the impact and implications of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. This paper will add another piece to Brexit and its emergence. This paper tries to explain regionalism in Europe and European integration, the UK's Withdrawal referendum, and its Exit and also traces the importance of the political parties in Britain. Afterwards, it briefly introduces Britain's historically fractious relationship with the EU. In light of Britain's historical role, the remaining part of this paper goes on to estimate the background and impact of Brexit on the regional organization like European Union, which members and institutions within the organization emerges (the EU 27) will be best able to benefit from the strategic vacuum created the Brexit in the Globalized era.

Peace, Propaganda, and Natural Resources: The Geoeconomics of Rwandan Peacekeeping in Mozambique and Implications for European and African Regionalism Projects

Since the end of the genocide in Rwanda, the small nation has solidified its reputation as an economic powerhouse among African countries, as well as the continent’s largest peacekeeping force. Some foreign governments have explicitly called on Rwanda for peacekeeping and military interventions before calling on larger regional organizations (namely, the Southern African Development Community). At the same time, other entities and analysts have questioned the legitimacy of Rwanda’s missions as well as the country’s ability to finance such missions, claiming the funds secretly arrive from France to protect French interests in Africa. This essay focuses on Rwanda’s peacekeeping missions in resource-rich areas of Mozambique, positing that, besides any geo-economic interest that may derive from Rwanda’s presence in such areas, the unilateral nature of Rwandan peacekeeping may represent a threat to African regionalism projects. Furthermore, French funding to Rwanda would imply a lack of alignment between the EU and its member states on dealings with foreign governments and security forces. The essay concludes with a series of proposals for the EU and AU, including ensuring greater alignment with its member states on external affairs and facilitating locally led peacebuilding and reconciliation platforms to root ownership of natural resources within the local population of northern Mozambique.

European regionalization: the normative basis and the principle of subsidiarity from the perspective of the institutional approach

The research of the European regionalization process is to be carried out including from the perspective of classical positivism and legislative and institutional analysis based on the methodological principle of the theoretical approach. The master directions of the study reside in the analysis of the specifics of European regionalization, the formation of regions within the member states of the European Union, the so-called internal regionalization, as well as the analysis of the formation of cross-border European regions. The mentioned processes will be elucidated through the prism of the formation of the normative base, the application of the principle of subsidiarity, the building of European institutions specialized in the building, consolidation and proliferation of European regionalism.

Regionalism, membership and leadership: insights from Asia and beyond

Drawing inspiration from a Chinese proberb, this paper offers an alternative interpretation of regionalism, with a special reference to its membership. This alternative interpretation provides insights into the exclusionary aspect of regionalism, for which mainstream international relations theories lack a certain efficacy in providing plausible explanations. We hypothesize that a state forms a regional group in which it can be a leader, excluding states that are more powerful than it is. A state values the leading position in a regional group, even in a small regional group. To test the hypothesis, this paper investigates regionalism launched in Asia during the second half of 20th century, with special attention to the inclusion and exclusion of the US. By analyzing diplomatic records obtained at four national archives (Australia, Japan, the UK, and the US), as well as memoirs by retired officials and other studies, this paper shows that regionalism in Asia was often pursued in an exclusionary manner, mainly by Japan, and to a lesser degree by Indonesia. The paper also discusses whether and how regionalism in Europe can be explained with this alternative theory.

‘Nordic added value’: a floating signifier and a mechanism for Nordic higher education regionalism

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the theoretical debate over a global upsurge in higher education (HE) regionalisms which pursue different region-building processes and create policy spaces beyond national boundaries. Focusing on the Nordic countries, the paper studies parallel processes of intra-Nordic and European HE and research cooperation. Although individual Nordic countries opt for different kinds of relationships with the European Union (EU), they have participated in the Europeanisation process of HE and research while intensifying their Nordic regional identity. Drawing on spatial logics in European integration and HE regionalism theories, the concept of ‘Nordic added value’ (NAV) and three Nordic flagship programmes, this paper addresses two questions: What are the links and outcomes of parallel regionalising processes of the EU-Nordic and intra-Nordic cooperation in HE and research? How has ‘Nordic added value’ been utilised to strengthen Nordic HE regionalism? The paper argues that spatial logics provide new and holistic understandings of rationales for region-building processes, whereas NAV, being a floating signifier, generates regionalising ideas and functions as a distinctive mechanism of Nordic HE regionalism. Both spatial logics and NAV render opportunities for Nordic regional imaginaries, identity-building and Nordic-EU mutual policy learning.

Historical memory and european regionalism: the scottish case

The region's past together with the historical memory of the people inhabiting it, undoubtedly carries lessons for the present and the future, both for the British state in particular, and for the rest of Europe as a whole. Studying the issues of historical memory helps to rethink the mechanisms of the formation of historical consciousness. It is also important when studying the role of various social strata in this process, which can include both professional historians and politicians, decision makers people on whom decision-making process depends to one degree or another. Among the set of functions that historical knowledge performs, the most significant one can be singled out an attempt to "reconcile" the present and the past of the people as a nation. In the light of the current European agenda, a change in ideas about the status of historical memory and a searching of approaches to understanding the issues raised by the regionalization processes require a new look at the process of interaction between these spheres of public life. This article examines the issues of Scottish historical memory in the context of regionalization processes in Europe: what in this case is the history of Scotland rather a common European tradition or a particular British case? Is it possible to look at the problem differently when both paths are not mutually exclusive?

Bölgelerin ve Ayrılıkçılığın Avrupası

This study focuses on regions and approaches to regionalism in Europe, which has a long history and heritage. It was anticipated that the regions would be represented more strongly at the European level when the European Common Market was completed. Indeed, after joining the European Union, many European countries have guaranteed to govern their regions in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and subordination. But some autonomous regions, such as Catalonia, emerged with "radical" demands such as independence rather than broad autonomy. The study tackled the issue from a current and historical point of view by carrying out some debates on the major regions of Europe. In the first part, regions that have evolved into separatism in Europe from time to time were discussed by focusing on the autonomous regions in Spain and the United Kingdom. In the second part, the regions in Italy were discussed, and the issues of identity, ethno-linguistic belonging, internal colonization and economic backwardness were elaborated. Finally, the establishment of the Committee of the Regions, a European Union institution, for the institutional solution of regional problems within the European Union and the criticisms faced by the Committee were evaluated. Thus, the way of ensuring the regional governance of the European Union institutions and their perspectives on regional differences were also revealed.

Mapping the cross-border cooperation ‘galaxy’: an exploration of scalar arrangements in Europe

ABSTRACT The development of cross-border regionalism in Europe has given rise to a multitude of academic works focussing on the pattern, signification and evolution of cross-border cooperation. Most previous studies have, however, focused on individual cross-border cooperation initiatives as units of analysis and neglected their spatial relation to other initiatives. By mapping the perimeter, activity, geographical type, scale and spatial relations of 209 initiatives, the current paper provides an updated and more nuanced overview of the geography of cross-border cooperation in Europe. The cartographic exploration from a rescaling perspective reveals the varying accumulation, scalar focus and activity of cross-border cooperation across Europe and leads to the identification of different forms and evolutions of scalar arrangements constituted by their overlapping perimeters of action. The distinction between nested, overlapping and complex arrangements suggests that different scalar processes are involved in the ongoing structuration of cross-border cooperation, and calls for better consideration of these multi-scalar dynamics in future research.

Higher Education Regionalism in Europe: from Bologna Process to Sorbonne

In 2017, the launch of Sorbonne process aimed at the creation of European Education Area by 2025 in parallel to the Bologna process existing since 1999 led to the emergence of two regional initiatives sharing mandate and membership. This study presents new empirical and conceptual insights into the ways in which a higher education regionalism can emerge and nest within another one as well as and their interplay. To this end, the paper compares the constellation of actors, competences, membership and driving forces of the two overlapping projects in higher education. It investigates plausible impact of the changes in European educational integration on Russia as a participant of the Bologna process. The results suggest that while the intergovernmental Bologna process was launched in the context of EU enlargement and embodied Pan-European vision, the EU-coordinated Sorbonne process was brought forth in the wake of multiple crises in the EU. It prioritizes the deepening of integration among a delineated group of EU members and candidates. Hence, the European regionalism in higher education is structured in concentric circles: the inner core of EU countries pursuing deeper integration and an outer circle comprising the rest of the Bologna countries, representing a geopolitical dimension for the core. The emergence of the inner core might lead to the shift in Bologna rationale towards diffusion of EU norms among countries of the outer circle. Although Russia find itself in the outer circle, there a low probability of substantial negative changes in the conditions of its participation in EU programmes, because some restrictive measures are already in force since 2014 and their expansion is unlikely due to the „selective engagement‟ in cooperation between the EU and Russia.

The Changing Dynamics of Regionalism in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of the Three Seas Initiative

ABSTRACT As the Central and Eastern European (CEE) states undergo a populist-nationalist revival, perhaps the most perplexing phenomenon has been the vibrancy of subregional cooperation initiatives. The Three Seas Initiative (TSI) is the most recent platform to join the list. While it is still too early to deliver a verdict on the effect this initiative will have on the future of European integration, it is indisputable that it marks a shift in the dynamics of European subregionalism. Namely, some of the states that are spearheading and supporting the initiative seem to be openly contesting European unity, which runs counter to the previous initiatives that were formed in support of further EU integration. This article analyses CEE’s standing within the EU in the context of TSI and argues that both rationalist and normative foundations of the most recent wave of subregionalism have significantly changed compared to the previous instances of subregional cooperation.

ПРИЧИНЫ ФРАГМЕНТАЦИИ РЕГИОНАЛИСТСКИХ ПАРТИЙ В ЗАПАДНОЙ ЕВРОПЕ

With the expanding representation of the regions and the emergence of new resources for the electoral struggle within political processes in the EU, the number of political parties is multiplying, and regionalist parties are no exception. Earlier most regionalisms had one historically established regionalist party as a representative (for example, SNP in Scotland or Sardinia Action Party in Sardinia). Now, however, the number of regionalist parties within the region may reach up to 10 or higher (Valley D'Aosta, Sardinia). That said, this trend is not obvious: in some cases, there is no fragmentation of regionalism, and regionalism is still represented by one party (for example, Bayernpartei in Bavaria). What is the reason behind the fragmentation of regionalist parties in some cases and absence of it in others? What are the conditions for the emergence of a "second" regionalist party? The research is devoted to answer these questions. Based on 24 cases of Western European regionalism, an attempt was made to explain the factors of regionalist parties fragmentation using the QCA methodology. The structural parameters of the institutional, identity and party orders were used as factors. The study found that structural factors do not directly determine the presence or absence of fragmentation of regionalist parties.

Contextualizing the Development of Ukrainian Higher Education: Between Soviet Legacies and European Regionalization

This paper contextualizes the development of Ukrainian higher education in broad historical, geopolitical, and socio-economic realities. The author argues that these realities determine the current Ukrainian education trajectory. Higher education reforms in Ukraine are analyzed in the context of two major influences: European regionalization and inherited Soviet structures in education. Particular focus is placed on the Bologna Process, the European education initiative to standardize higher education in Europe. Soviet organizational and administrative principles are outlined and analyzed as the second influence that determines Ukraine’s unique educational developments.
 A brief overview of higher education reforms in Ukraine notes the distinctive changes in the legal framework between 1996 and 2014. Ukrainian education reforms within this period are viewed from the perspective of the Bologna Process, a series of voluntarily agreements between European countries to establish a common European Higher Education Area to retain the regions’ influence and competitiveness. Contesting voices regarding the European-associated education reforms range from unquestionable support (Europhiliac) to absolute rejection (Europhobic). Such contesting voices reflect the Ukrainian society’s broader understanding of its complex educational challenges. The author argues that public concerns about reforms in Ukraine initiated with the Bologna Process, originate in the nature of the reforms, the Ukrainian educational system and its foundational principles, public stereotyping of the reforms, and the unstable political situation in the country.

Biomes are everybody's kingdom: a platform where ecology and biogeography meet

Proches’ (2020) criticism of Mucina's (2019) research review on the evolution of the biome concept raises several points. It argues that evolutionary history is a tool reserved for delimiting phytochoria (phytogeographic regions) and it is not appropriate for biomes. Proches notes that the ‘only things biomes and kingdoms [phytochoria] have in common is that they both have to be globally mappable’. This statement bears on our understanding of the biome as an ecological‐evolutionary concept, and on how phytochoria and biomes are recognized (or delimited) and mapped. In the following, I respond to Proches' arguments that will demonstrate a divergence in our thinking regarding the conceptual framework for differences in the delimitation of biomes and phytochory.

Emergence of regional cultural traditions during the Lower Palaeolithic: the case of Frosinone-Ceprano basin (Central Italy) at the MIS 11–10 transition

Decades of fieldwork in the Frosinone-Ceprano basin (Latin Valley, Latium, central Italy) have shed light on numerous open-air Lower Palaeolithic localities, delivering a human fossil calvarium, thousands of scattered faunal remains and a large collection of lithic industries, including core-and-flake type lithic series (mode 1) and Acheulean assemblages (mode 2). The continuously growing number of available geochronological data (obtained by 40Ar/39Ar on volcanic minerals, ESR/U-series on large mammal teeth and ESR on bleached fluvial quartz) allow today the construction of a reliable and precise chronological framework for the Lower Palaeolithic sites of this area of the Latin Valley. The archaeological horizons with bifaces all appear to belong to a relatively short Middle Pleistocene time range, between about 410 and 350 ka, coeval to the end of the interglacial MIS 11 and to the beginning of the following glacial MIS 10. The Acheulean tools are often associated with cores and flakes. Bifaces are mainly made on limestone, secondary flint and quartz. The archaeological corpus also yielded tools on fragments of large herbivore bones. Comparisons between technological strategies and palaeo-anthropological data at the global scale are now meaningful and enable us to decipher hominin behaviour at a more regional scale. Such careful work is becoming essential in the frame of the recent discoveries showing that the MIS 11–10 period was a pivotal period characterized by the appearance of several new archaeological features later associated with the Neanderthal lineage in Western Europe. We present here the first in-depth technological study of the Acheulean lithic corpus from the major archaeological sites from the Frosinone-Ceprano basin including the Campogrande localities (CG9 and CG10, intermediate and upper levels), Colle Avarone, Selvotta, Isoletta (level 4), Lademagne (upper and lower levels) and Masseria Castellone. For this work, we focus on biface shaping strategies and demonstrate technological features suggesting the existence of networks connecting the different human occupation sites. Technological data are compared with other penecontemporaneous Italian sites to discuss the hypotheses and characteristics of such early evidence of regionalization in Europe in this specific area of Central Italy. It seems to indicate that glacial conditions characterized by millennial rapid climatic oscillations could have been favourable to the development of specific vegetation propitious to human settlement in South-western Europe. European vegetation, as it drives the biomass availability for large herbivores, seems hence to have played a crucial role in the mobility and settlement of human groups.

Studies on the Asian Regional Monetary Unification & ACU Model - based on the [10+4] FTA Initiative

Though the phenomenon of “Counter-Globalization” occurred recently, economic globalization and regional economic integration are still the trends, especially as shown by the Asian economic integration process. The Asian regionalization is in very initial stage emerging in various cooperation mechanisms, forming a multi-level pattern of coexistence in the later erupted advantage. Based on the theories of regional economics and the Optimal Currency Zone, within the [10+4] FTA considered frame inc. The ASEAN, China, India, Japan, and South Korea, an academic study is carried out comparing with the case of the European regionalization. The research will focus on conditions and barriers in the Asian currency unification process, and finally a corresponding step proposal to set up "the ACU Experimental Zones" together with a model is putting forward.

Economic Regionalism Of MERCOSUR: Analyse of Intra-Regional Trade Relation Between 2006-2016

South Common Market MERCOSUR, which was one of the regionalism attempts in Latin America and established by the treaty signed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay in 1991, later Venezuela joined in 2012, is the biggest trade block of the region today. The organization’s ultimate goal is economic integration and despite the wide expectations of success in its early years, MERCOSUR’s integration couldn’t reach the level that was aimed due to its lack of institutionalism, the unwillingness of the countries to hand over their sovereignty, individual policies of the members and its limits because of the high number of organizations in Latin America, MERCOSUR’s integration couldn’t reach the level that was aimed. Analyses of intra-regional trade relations as an indicator of economic regionalism may provide ideas for the organization’s economic integration level in the last decade. The roots of the economic regionalism in the world system based on the developments in Europe in the 19th century and the new advancing trade networks and the of countries on customs union can be regarded as the first economic regionalism attempts in the modern sense. During this period it could be claimed that ideational, cultural and security-based regionalism was dominant in Latin America mostly because of the Pan ideas and protectivism, However, by the mid 20th century the aim of establishing a common market and increase on the trade relations emerged in the region. The economic regionalism initiatives started with The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) in 1948 and institutionalized after the 1990s with MERCOSUR which was established with the goal of increasing intra regional trade and economic openness on all factors of production. When the data of the years between 2006 and 2016 be examined it was seen that Brazil and Argentina who are the most significant members of the group in terms of GDP have increased their own trades and influenced the MERCOSUR’s trade indicators however mostly not because of their intra-trade relations but because of the international partners. Therefore it can be argued that one of the reasons behind the regionalism couldn’t reach the level that was aimed in Latin America is Brazil’s and Argentina’s trade preferences alongside with limitations on the capacity differences and dependencies on imports. With targeting Latin American regionalism on an economic perspective, this study analyzes MERCOSUR and aims to assess economic regionalism of the organization as an example of the non- European regionalism. The first chapter of the research examines economic regionalism studies on the regionalism theories such as federalism, functionalism, neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism in the context of international relations and puts forth the social, security, normative and economic forms of regionalism. Also, this section explains the economic regionalism’s preferential trade agreement, free trade agreement, customs union, common market and economic integration stages and evaluates the impact of the regionalization and globalization waves to the world trade. The second chapter analyzes the regionalism researchs of South America since the 19th century and historical process of MERCOSUR. The final chapter assesses economic regionalism of MERCOSUR in terms of intra and extra trade capacities and trade partners of member states with the opportunities and limitations of Latin American regionalism.

Regionalization, decentralization and administrative reform in Europe: theoretical and methodological aspect

Basically this article is divided into three parts – theoretical points of the decentralization of powers, methodological points of territorial and political regionalization and the basis and principals of administrative systems, especially concerning the historical borders of the territories and regions, in different countries of Europe. We found out that all that kinds of abovementioned processes principally are counted as a theoretical part of the decentralization process. We opened in this paper such definitions as decentralized unitary country and regionalized unitary country. We strongly think that decentralized unitary country precedes the regionalized unitary country, because as we found, process of decentralization and regionalization basically are the parts of one united historical process, where the decentralization is first, and regionalization is a second part. Abovementioned processes are actual for Ukraine, because now our country is on the way of reforms, especially into the reform of decentralization. So, we could try to analyse how deep decentralization and administrative reform could go and supposed that except of decentralization, regionalization of powers could not be actual in close perspective, but is actual from the theoretical and methodological points of view.