OUR DEFINITION OF REGION
The fact that there is a multitude of possibilities to approach the problem of "region" (see "the problem of definition") suggests that the best way to define it is in an eclectic and plastic way. If it is crystal clear that regions necessitate a geographical dimension, the question is then, how to recognise a particular area as a region. The point is that regions define themselves; they are only identifiable post factum. There is no use in looking for one universal criterion that defines a region, nor to come up with a "catch-all" cocktail of criteria. It is the process of regionalization that eventually defines the region, or in other words regions become 'visible' by patterns of interaction, such as discursive practices occurring within geographical, historical, cultural, political and economic variables.
One can define regions as territorially based subsystems of the international system. They 'exist' as they occur in discourses. This definition implies that there are many varieties of regional subsystems with different coherence.
Regions can be found at all territorial levels. There are regions within nation-states, cross-border regions on a sub-national level, as well as regions above the nation-state.
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