Search

Russia's war on Ukraine has generated a new chain of insecurities in Europe: energy and food crises, new migration flows from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, military threats sharpened by Russia's invasion are triggering a spatial and territorial reshuffling of Europe's Eastern flank. In this context, regional dynamics within and across the Eastern frontiers of Europe have undergone a succession of path-breaking transformations ranging from overt support to the Ukrainian war effort to decoupling from the Russian economy and an unprecedented boost to expanding the European Union's security architecture. However, one of the most important effects of the war is the growing gap between two regional models which might be dubbed normative (Europeanization within the EU- and NATO-led European normative space) and post-colonial (exemplified by different Russia-centric projects within the post-Soviet space). The original contribution of this special issue is to address the conceptual connections between security, borders and national identity to discuss the evolving European landscape. While we do not explore the military side of the war, we focus on the nexus of (in)security and bordering practices to capture how a combination of geopolitical changes, economic dynamics and human dimensions of war has created new borders and reshaped existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The media has been repeatedly demonstrated to have a large effect on voting behaviour and voter information worldwide, and to be crucial in the establishment of collective identities. Relatively unexplored in the field of regional politics are the effects of media on substate party system divergence and non-statewide party success. This article takes Europe as its focus and demonstrates how strongly regionalized media environments contribute to the development of distinctive party systems at the regional level. I argue that the effects of media works chiefly through the establishment of a 'banal regionalism' and by increasing voter information, thereby boosting issues traditionally associated with regionalist success such as socio-cultural distinctiveness and regional autonomy. The paper demonstrates this through a regression analysis of 69 European 'Small Worlds' and an illustrative case study of the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to integrate the banking industry in the region. To achieve this, ASEAN members have agreed to create the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework (ABIF) to support such integration. Despite being endorsed in 2014, the framework remains vague and lacks clear policy coordination arrangements as well as standardisation instruments that enable ASEAN member states to integrate their banking sectors. This article examines why the member states agreed to such regulatory arrangements. Building upon the regulatory regionalism approach, we argue that the regulatory arrangement is underpinned by a socio-political struggle among dominant social forces in ASEAN. The article further argues that the political endeavour to internationalise domestic capital through the banking integration project remains problematic, given that local banking players seem to largely focus on protecting and penetrating domestic markets rather than regional expansion. This has hindered the progress of regional banking integration in ASEAN. To substantiate this argument, we use Indonesia's engagement in the process as a case study. This article contributes to the study of political economies of banking integration outside of the European experiment by emphasising the importance of state–society relations in shaping the outcome of regional integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese President Xi Jinping has since 2013 advocated for an "Asia-Pacific Community with a Shared Future" (APCSF). This concept has rekindled debates on regional integration. The article begins by critiquing conventional Eurocentric theories of community-building while highlighting fundamental features of the Asia-Pacific approach. It recounts erstwhile proposals put forward by Japan, Australia, and America, drawing comparisons with the emerging Chinese vision. The APCSF envisions an inclusive intergovernmental society of cooperative yet interdependent economies in the Asia-Pacific. Unlike the notion of Indo-Pacific, the idea of Asia-Pacific countries belonging to a community has deeper economic and psychological roots. Furthermore, what sets the APCSF apart from previous proposals is its solid foundation that aligns with its ambitious goals. It can draw upon existing initiatives such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership for Trade Liberalisation and the Belt and Road Initiative for enhancing connectivity. Consequently, the APCSF stands a better chance of eventual realisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the question of choice between regionalism and multilateralism in trade relations of Central Asia introduced by Pomfret (2005). Our study is motivated by a significant restoration of economic links between the former Soviet republics following Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and the formation of new trade ties with Vietnam, Iran, and Serbia. Above all, there have been substantial commitments made by the three Central Asian republics of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan toward a multilateral system under the WTO rules. To this end, we apply a multi-region gravity model with interdependent trade flows using bilateral trade data of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to study the ex-ante effects of economic integration with various bilateral, plurilateral, and multilateral partners. Our findings indicate the existence of considerable gains if the aforementioned economies would ascend to the EAEU in comparison to integration with China or Iran. We also document the presence of shared economic links between Tajikistan, Central Asia, and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the shifting patterns of regionalism and alliance formation in the Middle East in the decade following the 2011 Arab uprisings. It seeks to explain why regional organizations, most notably the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, failed to advance any durable regional cooperation, in spite of an initial period of bold activism. Second, the article seeks to shed light on why government-driven, informal and instable regional alignments that also include non-Arab parties and non-state actors came to prevail instead. Our approach draws on Stephen Walt's concept of the balance of threats; we posit however that this concept needs to integrate a liberal-constructivist perspective to assess both the nature of threats and the significance of domestic factors. While we consider the Arab uprisings a potential turning point, our explanation of the patterns of cooperation and conflict in the Middle East after the uprisings points to regime (in)security and shifting threat perceptions as key factors. They explain the side-lining of established regional organizations and the priority given to alternative and volatile forms of regional cooperation, that is, the prevalence of "liquid alliances." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including the innovative governance for cross-sector linkages, the concept of green regionalism in trade agreements, and the normative conflicts between international investment treaties and climate action.

Green regionalism aims to mutually reinforce environmental governance and economic integration. The article provides the first analysis of green regionalism in international law. It argues that green regionalism represents a paradigm shift in global normative endeavours towards environmental sustainability. By contextualising three waves of global regionalism, the article unveils the evolving architecture of green regionalism alongside negotiations of the World Trade Organization and multilateral environmental agreements. Moreover, it sheds light on the pertinent disputes and features of new green initiatives galvanised by the European Union, the United States and Asia‐Pacific countries. These developments are pivotal in understanding the trade‐environment nexus and fostering economic resilience in our hyperconnected world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do international organizations (IOs) and their proponents claim legitimacy, and how do their opponents undermine such legitimacy? This article develops a framework that accounts for the links between legitimation and delegitimation strategies and how they regularly produce 'legitimation struggles'. Drawing on the case of the African Union between 2015–2020, the study goes beyond existing research in three ways. First, legitimation struggles are not simply related to input and output legitimacy but are deeply related to the social purpose of the organization. Second, legitimation struggles do not only involve IO representatives and member-states but are strengthened by a range of other non-state agents. Third, while discursive strategies are essential, legitimation struggles are reinforced when they are combined with behavioural or institutional legitimation strategies. Future research would do well to go beyond the current Western-centric bias and draw on our findings to investigate legitimation struggles under different conditions around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the late British Mandate period until 1967, a cohesive system of social and political arrangements took shape among the people of the Hebron district in the West Bank. This system, referred to here as the Hebronite alliance, was born of a continuous crisis and played a central role in cultivating harmony and co-liability among the people of the district and its expatriates. It promoted them as a collective and individuals and shaped the distinct pro-Hashemite character of the Hebron region. The strength of the alliance stemmed from the adoption of a unique social contract and a new regional 'Hebronite' identity that was a stable anchor for many Palestinians caught between the competing Palestinian, Jordanian, and pan-Arab national identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article continues a longitudinal national study of journalism employment in Australia and contributes to new understandings of journalism employment in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Results suggest a shift in the organisational landscape of the media in Australia, with an expansion of large organisations at the 'top,' and a considerable loss of small micro-ventures (largely based online) at the 'bottom.' Implications include stronger centralised editorial control at the corporate level, urbanisation and homogenisation of media producers and product, and reduced opportunities for creative entry-level roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ayer: Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Asociacion de Historia Contemporanea and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African & Mediterranean Journal of Architecture & Urbanism (AMJAU) is the property of Ecole Nationale d'Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As countries formerly deemed to be "developing" and relatively powerless begin to exert more influence in global arenas, fresh attention is being paid by Western policymakers as well as scholars to the possibility of the creation of a multipolar system that is shaping up to be a highly diverse one. To assess whether this incipient multipolarity can be sustained, it is important to examine the evolving diplomatic strategies of the nations of the Global South, in particular their reliance on multilateral mechanisms for normative guidance and tangible gains. This requires an examination of the content of the foreign policies of current and potential leading nations of the Global South, not only those that are fortunate enough to exert influence at the global level, but also those that are in key positions at the regional and subregional levels. A study of selected leading countries found that organizational membership and leadership, regionalism, nonalignment, multialignment, and agility in adopting and operationalizing norms such as South-South cooperation and environmentalism are among the key strategies that are being employed by Global South states in their efforts to gain visibility in global affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Routledge) is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Evaluating regionalism in a glocal lens is important because it reveals the local contexts associated with cross-border endeavors in the global era. This paper seeks to extend existing literature by propounding a metagovernance framework for analyzing the inter-jurisdictional and multi-scalar nature of the concept. The model premised on the territory, place, scale, networks (TPSN) schema outlines regionalism in a glocal lens in terms of entwinements or embeddedness, hybridization, hierarchization, spatialization, temporalization and instantiation. Much of the prevailing literature on glocal regional governance primarily focuses on North America and Europe. To address this gap, a case analysis of a city-region in sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. Accra, Ghana) was employed to empirically demonstrate the proposed conceptual framework. Here, a local context of centralization and public sector-led development based on the state-centric school defines metagovernance as the government of governance. Thus, sub-national foreign relations are shaped by the national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to answer the question about the conditions for the implementation of regionalist ideas within the Jewish community across Polish territories, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The author identifies internal variations within this community, delineating diverse stances towards local character and varied circumstances surrounding the practice of regionalist endeavours. The text presents statements (declarations) made by Diaspora representatives, testifying to their attachment to the land (place) of their birth, as well as activities that can be regarded as an emanation of such a relationship. Furthermore, the profiles of several enthusiasts with Jewish roots, pursuing their regional interests in various places in the Republic of Poland and at different moments in its history, are presented. The categories of nostalgia, sentiment, establishing roots, and the concept of a “little homeland” are also highlighted.

Economic suffering prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, coming on the heels of earlier 2008 global-financial and 2015 migration crises, revived debate on citizen support for European fiscal integration policies. Such support can be expected to reflect not only individual-level characteristics but also the extent of crisis exposure in subnational regional contexts where individuals live and work. Unfortunately, existing studies of public support have said little about such regional contexts. This study hence explores how regional-level experience with 'polycrisis' affects support for EU fiscal capacities, combining regional-level crisis measures with a 2020 survey experiment on European citizens' preferences towards fiscal capacity instruments in 5 European countries (DE, ES, FR, IT, NL). This allows tests of whether individual support for various European fiscal capacities reflect regional differences in covid suffering, growth losses after the 2008 global financial crisis, and migration spikes from the 2015 migration crisis. We expect and find that citizens in regions more heavily impacted by the pandemic, financial crisis, and (albeit less so) migration crisis – measured separately and as a composite – tend to more readily support European fiscal integration capacity that is redistributive between countries, financed through progressive taxation, refrains from budgetary conditionality, and is lenient towards reform non-compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study involves representing the image of the outstanding Siberian public figure N. M. Yadrintsev through textual analysis of necrologies dedicated to him, published in the newspaper “Eastern Review”, 1894. The edition was a great success among the provincial and metropolitan public. The choice of chronological framework is explained by the year of the enlightener’s death. The ongoing research is based on the methodology of “new intellectual and cultural history”, revealing the facets of a historical figure and his ideological heritage in the perception of the worldview of his contemporaries and colleagues. To implement research plans, the theory of historical memory was used. The anthropological approach emphasizing the individual with his way of thinking and characteristic behavioral traits was important for this study. Also, content analysis as a form of historical research was widely used in the work. Such tools made it possible not only to identify the content of written sources, but also to show their social context. The author emphasizes that after the death of N.M. Yadrintsev, many obituary texts were published in memory of the public figure. The work shows that obituary materials reveal N.M. Yadrintsev as a talented journalist, traveler, writer, and expert on the Siberian frontier. In this vein, the social significance of the enlightenment’s heritage is emphasized and his social and professional status is noted.

The paper focuses on the emergence of the European Federalist Movement between the two World Wars up to the establishment of the Association of European Federalists in 1944. The Author pays particular attention to Piero Calamandrei’s significant contribution to European federalism. The Florentine jurist envisioned federalism as closely linked to regionalism and peace, in an international context marked by a world divided into two opposing blocs by the Cold War.

In the framework of the presented article, the author analyzes the process of management transformation in the Omsk region in the 1990s as the formation of federalism in the Russian Federation. Later, the author of the article plans to carry out similar work in relation to the Altai Territory and the Tyumen region. Based on the available scientific developments and introducing into circulation a wide range of sources, the author of the work identifies the features of the development of federalism in the Omsk region within the framework of the system of socio-political and economic relations. Omsk region had serious industrial and agricultural potential, but also raw materials problems, exacerbated by the transition to market relations. The local leadership put forward the idea of regionalization of economic reform, which required the presence of a strong authoritarian business executive in power. But the active privatization carried out by external forces led to rapid bankruptcy, which did not suit the local leadership, and the population is not satisfied with the decline in living standards. In the Omsk region, this situation leads to increased support for left-wing parties. As part of the national administrative construction, the Azov German National District was created in the Omsk region. The idea of creating the territorial autonomy of the Siberian Tatars, triggered by the process of privatization of the oil industry, was stopped by transferring it to owners living outside the Omsk region.

This article examines the state, future configuration and ways of managing the international order, as well as Latin America’s place in that order, to understand where it is now and reflect on what it might be like and how it might develop in the future. To do so, we employ the notion of “non-hegemonic order”, which has no start date because it stems from a combination of processes of varying duration and effects. We argue that the order taking shape will have two main fault lines: a breach between two opposing and different Norths – North 1 and North 2 – and another breach between the two Norths and a Global South diverse in resources and power configurations, of which Latin America forms part (with its own specificities). We address the singular position of the Latin American region which in a bid to consolidate its autonomy maintains a complex triangular Latin America-United States-China dynamic.

This article examines the state, future configuration and ways of managing the international order, as well as Latin America’s place in that order, to understand where it is now and reflect on what it might be like and how it might develop in the future. To do so, we employ the notion of “non-hegemonic order”, which has no start date because it stems from a combination of processes of varying duration and effects. We argue that the order taking shape will have two main fault lines: a breach between two opposing and different Norths – North 1 and North 2 – and another breach between the two Norths and a Global South diverse in resources and power configurations, of which Latin America forms part (with its own specificities). We address the singular position of the Latin American region which in a bid to consolidate its autonomy maintains a complex triangular Latin America-United States-China dynamic.

Since 2014, India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won more elections at the national and state levels than it has lost, returning with an even larger majority in the 2019 General Election. However, the question of whether there has been any break from the past in the nature of the Indian party system remains open. What is the nature of the BJP's dominance in this period? What is the status of the opposition and the vitality of regional players in this new era? Have coalitions really been relegated to the past? This article investigates the current trends of the party system and compares them with tendencies exhibited historically. It applies mixed methods, largely quantitative analysis of secondary data based on ECI and Lokniti – CSDS election surveys. It argues that what has been called India's "Fourth Party System" is not completely separate from the trends of the three preceding epochs but rather blends them in unique ways. A re-examination of the election results would reveal how dominance, regionalism and coalitions coexist in an enigmatic symbiosis offering a new reading of the structure of India's current party system. The 2024 General Elections which witnessed a humbling but historic third consecutive BJP victory albeit reliant on coalition partners only reinforce how the three dimensions of dominance, regionalism and coalitions constantly play out in shaping the character of India's Party System where changes seem more of a degree rather than of kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the encounter of activists from the Anti-Imperialist League of the Americas (LADLA) with African, African American, and Asian anticolonial intellectuals through the League Against Imperialism (LAI), founded at the 1927 Brussels Congress. Drawing from LADLA’s newspaper El Libertador, letters from LADLA leaders, and speeches and resolutions in the LAI archive, it studies how exchanges begun in Brussels influenced debates in radical circles in the Americas. The article builds on extant scholarship and makes two primary interventions. First, it argues that a closer look at LADLA’s participation in the LAI shifts the traditional understanding of interwar Latin American regionalist ideologies, which LADLA rejected in favor of drawing connections to anti-imperialist movements around the world. Second, it argues that the exchange in Brussels influenced LADLA to eventually expand its initial focus on Indigenous struggles to think more critically about Black communities, including Black migrant labor, in political organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing popularity of Brisley's Milly Molly Mandy stories notwithstanding, critical commentary on Brisley's work is scarce. June Factor, writing in 1979, praised her reconstruction of "English village life before the First World War." But the stories are set later– between the wars. They exhibit documentary realism, even while they cooperate with a national idealization of country living in this period. In so doing, they may be contrasted with Brisley's Bunchy stories. Bunchy's adventures are unnerving fantasies, very different from Milly Molly Mandy's credible expeditions. They reflect Bunchy's situation as an orphan, living with her apparently widowed grandmother, and without playmates on the outskirts of Milly Molly Mandy's village. Bunchy's make-believe companions (formed out of pastry dough, inadequate drawings etc.) are not just unsatisfactory as such—they are threatening allusions to mortality and loss. It could be that they reflect Brisley's own disrupted life-history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text provides an overview of the progress and challenges of ASEAN regionalism, focusing on its unique features and objectives. It acknowledges the criticisms that ASEAN has faced, such as its perceived failure to address practical issues and security concerns. However, it emphasizes the importance of understanding ASEAN's "implicitly Asian features" and its commitment to community-building and identity issues. The text also highlights ASEAN's ambitions in fostering regional cooperation and community building, as well as its efforts to influence the wider regional order. It discusses the various institutions and mechanisms established by ASEAN to facilitate dialogue and cooperation among member states and other regional actors. The text addresses criticisms about ASEAN's slow-moving political processes and emphasizes the region's economic growth and potential. [Extracted from the article]

This study focuses on the relationship between secessionist tendencies, which are understood to be the desire of a set of certain individuals to cease being part of an ingroup in order to form a new class or identity, and perceived conflict within the original affiliation. The working hypothesis is that there is a positive correlation between these variables. Two hundred and twenty-four volunteer participants responded to five questionnaires that measured the main variables of this study and supplied feedback through other questionnaires related to social identity: regionalism (a form of ethnocentrism), group identification, and essentialism. The main results indicate that secessionism is positively associated with the perception of conflict between the ingroup and the superordinate ingroup, and that both variables in turn correlate with the other variables studied. The results are discussed in terms of the possible causal determination between the variables drawn from the aforementioned empirical evidence and the supporting theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh, a littoral state of Bay of Bengal, has historically played a marginal role in regional and global politics. Despite being a maritime nation, the maritime considerations have been absent in the country's foreign policy formulation process. The article argues that the resolution of its maritime disputes with its neighbours has placed 'maritime considerations' in the heart of its foreign policy and the country has moved away from 'land-centric' regionalism to a more 'maritime-centric' regionalism over the past decade. This transformative shift represents the country's ambition to become a 'middle power' in regional and global affairs with a critical objective to achieve 'security pluralism' in the Bay of Bengal region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]