ABSTRACT
‘Interregionalism’ emerged in international and regional studies as one of the theoretical responses to the profound changes that took place in the last decade of the twentieth century. It built on the revival of regionalism that spread mainly over the ‘triad’ regions (Europe, North America, and East Asia) but went beyond and developed a distinct focus in international relations by creating a new theoretical framework which does not limit itself to explaining regional integration but rather explains a new phenomenon in international relations.
After describing the emergence of interregionalism and its links to regionalism with a special emphasis on two continents, Europe and Latin America, this chapter will offer explanatory guidelines for explaining interregionalism, particularly several forms it can take as well as the unique functions and objectives that this new type of approach to international relations fulfils and its differences with both the mainstream international relation theories and the theories based on regionalism, that is, both ‘old’ and ‘new’. In the third and final part, we will analyse the shortcomings of interregionalism in light of the difficulties it is confronted with at present and will also assess its scope in the future. Beyond the problems that interregionalism is currently experiencing (just as regionalism itself had experienced the same type of problems in the 1970s), it is here to stay since it is an essential tool for understanding the many novel forms of relations that are emerging in the era of globalisation.
