Constructing South East Europe


Book Description

Regional cooperation has become a distinctive feature of the Balkans, an area known for its turbulent politics. Exploring the origins and dynamics of this change, this book highlights the transformative power of the EU and other international actors.




Competitiveness and Private Sector Development Competitiveness in South East Europe A Policy Outlook 2018


Book Description

Future economic development and the well-being of citizens in South East Europe (SEE) increasingly depend on greater economic competitiveness. Realising the region’s economic potential requires a holistic, growth-oriented policy approach. Against the backdrop of enhanced European Union (EU) ...




Regional Cooperation in South Asia and Southeast Asia


Book Description

Provides a comparative sketch of regional cooperation in South and Southeast Asia in the light of various political, economic and social developments in the two regions.




Countering Terrorism in South Eastern Europe


Book Description

In common with many other parts of the world, the region of South Eastern Europe (SEE) faces a significant terrorist threat. Countering this threat represents a major security challenge for government agencies in the region and their partners, and although important counterterrorism advances have been made by NATO nations over the past decade, the complex history, geography, culture, socio-economic and political dynamics of the area mean that these advances need to be contextualized and modified to suit the regional situation.This book presents the contributions to the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC) 'Countering Terrorism in South Eastern Europe' held over five days at Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, in February 2016. The conference hosted presenters from 15 different countries, and government representatives from the nations of the Balkan region, including Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Kosovo. The course consisted of five central priorities: contemporary global terrorist practices, radicalization processes and recruitment techniques; terrorist use of cyberspace; legal aspects of countering terrorism; building resilient societies; with the final priority concentrating on SEE counterterrorism. Presenters discussed a wide range of topics, including radicalization and cyberterrorism, all aimed at countering the real and evolving threat of terrorism in the region.







Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus


Book Description

The South Caucasus region, comprising the former Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia occupies a key strategic location, squeezed between the Black and Caspian Seas, Iran, Russia and Turkey. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the region has become an arena of geopolitical confrontation with regional powers such as Russia, Turkey and Iran vying for influence in the face of growing Western involvement. The Russian military intervention in Georgia in 2008 not only raised questions about Moscow's intentions towards its 'Near Abroad' and the future direction of its foreign policy, it also demonstrated that ostensibly local separatist disputes have serious ramifications for regional relations and the wider international community. In this book, German explores the extent of regional cooperation in the South Caucasus, analyses the reasons for the relative lack of regional cooperation and assesses the potential for deeper cooperation in the future.




Cold War as Cooperation


Book Description

A study of superpower co-operation since World War II, this book examines the regulation of USA/USSR rivalry, and outlines the power of regional states to constrain and manipulate them for their own interests.




Connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia


Book Description

This report analyzes how closer regional connectivity and economic integration between South Asia and Southeast Asia can benefit both regions, with a focus on the role played by infrastructure and public policies in facilitating this process. It examines major developments in South Asian–Southeast Asian trade and investment, economic cooperation, the role of economic corridors, and regional cooperation initiatives. In particular, it identifies significant opportunities for strengthening these integration efforts as a result of the recent opening up of Myanmar in political, economic, and financial terms. This is particularly the case for land-based transportation—highways and railroads—and energy trading. The report’s focus is on connectivity in a broad sense, covering both hardware and software, including investment in infrastructure, energy trading, trade facilitation, investment financing, and support for national and regional policies.




The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism - the first of its kind - offers a systematic and wide-ranging survey of the scholarship on regionalism, regionalization, and regional governance. Unpacking the major debates, leading authors of the field synthesize the state of the art, provide a guide to the comparative study of regionalism, and identify future avenues of research. Twenty-seven chapters review the theoretical and empirical scholarship with regard to the emergence of regionalism, the institutional design of regional organizations and issue-specific governance, as well as the effects of regionalism and its relationship with processes of regionalization. The authors explore theories of cooperation, integration, and diffusion explaining the rise and the different forms of regionalism. The handbook also discusses the state of the art on the world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Various chapters survey the literature on regional governance in major issue areas such as security and peace, trade and finance, environment, migration, social and gender policies, as well as democracy and human rights. Finally, the handbook engages in cross-regional comparisons with regard to institutional design, dispute settlement, identities and communities, legitimacy and democracy, as well as inter- and transregionalism.




Region-Making and Cross-Border Cooperation


Book Description

This book explores the nature of regions and how they function, particularly at the local and micro-level. Whilst recent years have seen a resurgence in debates around the roles which regions can play in development, the focus has tended to be on 'macro' regional institutions such as the EU, ASEAN, ECOWAS or MERCOSUR. In contrast, this book offers a nuanced analysis of the important field of sub-regionalism and sub-national cross-border cooperation. Region-Making and Cross-Border Cooperation takes a fresh look at both theoretical and empirical approaches to 'region-making' through cooperation activities at the micro-level across national borders in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The book aims to explore the role that institutional dynamics play at the micro-level in shaping local and global ties, investigate what the formal and informal integration factors are that bolster regionalism and regionalization processes, and to clarify to what extent, and under what conditions, cooperation at the micro-level can be instrumental to solving common problems. Scholars and students within politics, sociology, geography, and economics would find this book an important guide to regionalism at a micro-local level perspective.