The European Union and Interregionalism: Patterns of Engagement

The European Union and Interregionalism is the most comprehensive study of interregionalism to date, providing a vigorous analysis of its role and functions in the architecture of global governance, and of the place of qualitative differences between regional actors in shaping interregional relationships.Regionalism itself is an established phenomenon, with regional politics becoming increasingly institutionalised. As a result, regions have begun to exert themselves in the external policy space, developing networks of relations including, prominently, interregional relations. We have thus seen the emergence of a new governance space at the interregional level, banded on one side by sites of global governance, and on the other by governance at the regional level. Important questions challenging the current literature of these interregional structures include:" Do interregional relationships conform to theoretical expectations? How do interregionalisms differ?" How do differences between partner regions as 'actors' impact interregionalism?" How are interregional relationships assessed by the participants? Are they a success or a failure, and in what ways?Uniquely considering interregionalism outside the EU, exploring the network of relations centred on ASEAN, this book should be read by all those engaged in issues of interregional structures to understand how EU-centred interregionalism impacted on the global network of interregional relationships.