Regionalism through interregionalism East Asia and ASEM

• Published in: Regionalism in East Asia pp. 197 - 219
• Main Author: Hänggi, Heiner
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2003
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: East Asian Regionalism; ASEM Process; ASEM Initiative; East Asia; Northeast Asian; ASEAN Member State; Northeast Asian Powers; East Asian Participants; Asia Europe Relations; EAEC; Intra-regional Cooperation; Asia Europe Interregionalism; East Asian Cooperation; ASEAN Country; East Asian Countries; Triadic Context; Interregional Relations; Informal ASEAN Summit; EU Troika; Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir; EAEC Proposal; Triad Regions; Northeast Asian Countries; Northeast Asian State; Interregional Links
• ISBN: 9781138862821; 9780700716128; 1138862827; 0700716122
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315029412-14

Most comparative analyses of regionalism focus on the internal functioning of particular regions. However, as theorists of regionalism have for long argued, regions are also structured by the way they relate to the outside world. The role of external factors in the development of regional cooperation, such as 'external cogency' 1 or 'external federators', 2 has been widely acknowledged in the traditional literature on regionalism. Accordingly, extra-regional states, great powers in particular, may have a positive or negative impact on the development of intra-regional cooperation. As an illustration, the post-war policy of the United States towards the Western European integration process is generally viewed as an important factor of positive external cogency, whereas the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union is considered as an element of negative external cogency. 3 Besides external powers, other regions or regional subsystems may also play a role as external factors of regionalism. The impact of regional groupings on the development of regionalism elsewhere has been studied mainly in the context of the phenomenon known as 'extra-regional echoing', which by and large refers to the European prototype of regionalism serving other world regions as a model, either to be imitated or to be avoided. Beyond the 'extra-regional echoing' phenomenon, however, the role of interregional interactions has often been neglected in the literature on regionalism as some authors have noted. 4 Indeed, apart from Kaiser's (1981) study on the interaction of regional subsystems, the relevant literature is conspicuously silent about the impact of interregionalism on regionalism. This may be explained by the systemic bipolarity of the cold-war period which left little room for interregional relations beyond transregional alliances and, therefore, caused little scholarly interest in the subject matter.