Asian Regionalism: Politics,

Security and Economic

Development
What is Asian Regionalism?
Asian Regionalism is the product of economic interaction, not
political planning. As a result of successful, outward oriented growth
strategies, Asian economies have grown not only richer, but also closer
together. In recent years, new technological trends have further
strengthened ties among them, as have the rise of the PRC (People’s
Republic of China) and India and the region’s growing weight in the
global economy. But adversity also played a role in 1997 and 1998
financial crisis dealt a severe setback to much of the region, highlighting
Asia’s shared interests and common vulnerabilities and providing an
impetus for regional cooperation.
What is Asian Region
alism?
In the early stages of Asia’s economic takeoff, regional
integration proceeded slowly. East Asian economies, in particular,
focused on exporting to developed country markets rather than selling
to each other.

https://aric.adb.org/emergingasianregionalism/pdfs/Final_ear_chapter
s/chapter%202.pdf
Elements of Regionalism
a) Movements demanding territorial autonomy within unitary states;
b) The organization of the central state on a regional basis for the delivery of
its policies including regional development policies;
c) Political decentralization and regional autonomy.

https://pesd.princeton.edu/?q=node/264
Characteristics of Regionalism
1. Local Identity
One of the main characteristics of regionalism is its strong local identity and a
loyalty to the region. Regionalist politicians and many residents feel pride in the
local culture and its people. Politicians try to exploit that identity to gain supporters
for their proposals. The regionalist agendas often claim that the regional interest
should always come before the national interest.
2. Autonomy
The search of greater autonomy is usually a priority of regionalism. It can be
economic, in the form of more power to administer economic resources and
modify fiscal policies; it can also be political, with stronger local institutions and the
ability to pass laws and enforce local policies. A regional political party, however, is
not automatically a form of regionalism. One group that only exists in a certain
region might promote local agendas without looking for greater regional autonomy.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/regionalism-in-politics-definition-
characteristics-types.html
Role of Regionalism
• At the international level, regionalism refers to
transnational cooperation to meet a common goal or to resolve a
shared problem or it refers to a group of countries such as-Western
Europe, or Southeast Asia, linked by geography, history or economic
features. Used in this sense, regionalism refers to attempts to
reinforce the links between these countries economic features.
• The second meaning of the term is regionalism at national level refers
to a process in which sub-state actors become increasingly powerful,
power devolves from central level to regional governments. These are
the regions within country, distinguished in culture, language and
other socio-cultural factors.
https://www.insightsonindia.com/2014/11/13/regionalism-
dimensions-meaning-issues/
Globalization VS Regionalism
• Globalization and regionalization are contradictory unity as their goal
in some cases may be the same, and in some can be quite divergent.
Both of these processes form new institutions in the global economic
space which determine the actions of macroeconomic subjects, thus
there is transplantation of institutions in most developed countries,
which in turn causes a strong socioeconomic dependence of recipient
countries, hinders their development and enhances the technical -
economic underdevelopment, reduces welfare, and increases
economic and political risks
 Effects of Regionalism in Globalization
The regionalism realized by the collective institutional design via
regional organizations was found to depend from the conditions and
constrains of individual sovereign member states. Collective regional/global
governance as well as institutional capacity of the regional organizations
was found to be dependent of the individual member states when affecting
economic development. The effects of regionalism on economic
development varied. Some regionalisms were found spurious or suppressed
by the effects of conditions and constraints of the member states. Some
regionalisms were found affective, indicating they are significant, positive or
negative, in affecting economic development. But still many other
regionalisms were found non-affective, indicating that they are simply
insignificant in affecting economic development regardless of international
economic and domestic variables of the member states.
https://www.sociostudies.org/almanac/articles/regionalism-
_globalization_and_economic_development_of_the_world_/
Effects of Globalization in Regionalism
• The fast-developing processes of globalization, with increased
political and economic interdependence, along with competition;
regionalization dynamics revealing more localized ambitions and
either constraining or advancing intentions and policies; mainly
regarding political, institutional and social aspects, and economic
integration.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1016/S1569-
3759(07)89005-X/full/html
Effects of Asian Regionalism on Security
In 1968, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was born with five
original members: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and
Singapore. The primary goal of the ASEAN, as far as the United States
and its friends were concerned, was to consolidate Southeast Asia
against communism, which was raging in the form of the Vietnam War.
Its focus was on security. The ASEAN was an outgrowth of the stillborn
SEATO idea, which was envisaged as a type of Asian NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) organization against communism.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259410659_Introduction_t
o_Ideas_of_Asian_Regionalism
Effects of Asian Regionalism on Politics
Case studies suggest that business has not played a major role in either
promoting or opposing the agreements — not surprisingly in that the
agreements are unlikely to have a major economic impact, and are not
being widely used. Rather than there being an 'economic domino'
effect at work, the new East Asian regionalism is best understood as
being driven by a 'political domino' effect.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699634?seq=1#page_scan_tab_conten
ts
Effects of Asian Regionalism on Economic
Development

A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced

when one event sets off a chain of similar events. The term is best
known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row
of dominoes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_effect
As of now this will
be the end for this
topic