ABSTRACT
After reading this chapter you will have gained an understanding of:
Why numerous states in many parts of the world now pursue regional cooperation
What they get out of it
How it is linked to globalisation
Introductory box: Regional organisations and international relations
From the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, there was a surge in growth and a renewed focus on regional organisations in international relations. During the next few years, old regional organisations — such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) — were revived and new organisations, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), were formed. Overall, regionalisation (or as it is sometimes put, regionalism) and the call for strengthened regionalist arrangements became central to many of the debates about the nature of the post-Cold War international order.
One of the main reasons for the renewed interest in regional organisations was the fact that while international wars decreased in number following the Cold War, conflicts within countries — many of which spilled over to become regional concerns — increased. Over time, one of the main aims of any regional organisation was to try to provide increased security to regional countries afflicted by conflict. The premise was that a country that is at risk of conflict, or seeking to recover from it, has multiple needs that no one expert or organisation can provide. Humanitarian organisations, such as the Red Cross, work to address basic human needs for food, shelter and medicine; military or international organisations may have armed forces providing security; and governance experts may be helping local officials establish or improve legal frameworks and government agencies.
