Introducing Regional Integration
This module is designed as a general introduction to regional integration, and is particularly aimed at non-specialists. It reviews some of the main definitions of what constitutes a region, and identifies the basic concepts and approaches to integration. The module portrays both the diversity and the hierarchical nature of regionalism, and calls attention to the motivations that lead groups of states and regions to elect for one particular form of regional cooperation over another.
The module guides the reader through a description of integration across the political, economic and security arenas, and highlights the existence of both micro-regions (sub-national) and macro-regions (supranational). Attention is given to both long-established and more recent systems of regional integration, and to the particular forms that regionalism has taken in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. The overall aim of this module is to equip the reader with the basic tools necessary to understand the variety and scope of cooperation across countries and within countries, while appreciating the dynamic and complex nature of such arrangements. The interested reader is invited to consult the bibliography of selected reading at the end of the module. Further and more detailed information on individual regional integration agreements is also available on the Regional Integration Information System (see the UNU/CRIS homepage).
The views expressed in this module are those of the authors, and do not imply endorsement by the UN or UNU.
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