States and Regional International Organizations.

Beyond the thorny, even insoluble question of the definition of a region and the definition of the criteria that should make it possible to apprehend the polymorphism of RIO s, the raison d'être of these organizations, their mode of operation and their activities are at the heart of the debate on "international governance". For many authors, the advent of RIO s has often been seen as a challenge to the state monopoly in the international legal order and a redefinition of the relationship between these particular organizations and states. It is this relational dynamic between the States and the RIO s that this contribution aims to describe and analyse. The aim is to examine the originality and specificity of the relationship between the RIO s and the States, compared to the latter's relationship with the 'classic/universal' IOs, which would reveal something about the very nature of regional organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]