Contending regionalisms: hubs and challengers in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific

ABSTRACT

As regions become more institutionalized, they are characterized by two competing trends. First, key regional institutions can become hub institutions that act as transmitters of a comprehensive set of norms. Second, as regional institutions increase in number, regions themselves are liable to become more fragmented. How these trends have played out is explored in two key regions, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific. It is concluded that regions are not static entities but are ever-changing structural arrangements. Hub institutions can be challenged and the consequences can be significant as regions gain in importance on the international stage.

KEYWORDS:

• Regions
• regionalisms
• institutionalization
• norms
• Americas
• Asia-Pacific

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Amitav Acharya, Alice Ba, Gregory Chin, and Grace Skogstad, along with Pia Riggirozzi and Diana Tussie, as well as the journal editors for helpful comments on the paper. We also benefited from conversations with a wide number of practitioners. Reshem Khan, Anthony Noga and Alexander Smith provided valuable research assistance. Although we are appreciative of all this support the usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This paper has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) [grant number 435-2015-1357].

Notes on contributors

Andrew F. Cooper

Andrew F. Cooper is Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo in Canada. His books include as author, The BRICS (OUP, 2016), Diplomatic Afterlives (Polity, 2014) and Internet Gambling Offshore: Caribbean Struggles over Casino Capitalism (Palgrave, 2011) and as co-author Intervention Without Intervening? OAS and Democracy in the Americas (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Richard Stubbs

Richard Stubbs is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Canada. He has published widely on the regional political economy and security of East and Southeast Asia. His recent books include Routledge Handbook of Asian Regionalism (Routledge 2012) and Theorizing Southeast Asia: Emerging Debates (Macmillan Palgrave 2009) both of which he co-edited. A revised edition of his Rethinking Asia's Economic Miracle (Palgrave Macmillan) is forthcoming.