Chapter 3

A WORLD OF REGIONS
Peter J. Katzenstein

• regions have become critical to

contemporary world politics.

• regions are interacting closely with an

American imperium that combines territorial
and non-territorial powers.
Topic 1
GLOBAL DIVIDES:
THE GLOBAL NORTH AND THE GLOBAL
SOUTH
(Focus on Latin America)
North-South Divide Russian
East
-It is broadly considered a socio-
economic and political divide.

American
West
 • GLOBAL NORTH (First World)
 United States
 Canada
 Western Europe
 Australia
 New Zealand
 Japan
 South Korea
 It mostly covers the West and the First World. It may be defined as the richer, more
developed region.

 95% of the North has enough food and shelter.

 In economic terms, the North controls 4/5 of the income earned anywhere in the
world.
 90 % of the manufacturing industries are owned by and located in the North.
• GLOBAL SOUTH (Third World)
 Africa
 Latin America
 Developing Asia including the Middle East

 It may be defined as the poorer and less

developed region.
 It lacks appropriate technology, it has no
political stability, the economies are
disarticulated and their foreign exchange
earnings depend on primary product
exports.
 It has access to the 1/5 of the world
income.
 THE GLOBAL SOUTH
AND THE THIRD WORLD
1. It has traditionally been used within intergovernmental development
organizations –– primarily those that originated in the Non-Aligned
Movement­.

2. Global South captures a deterritorialized geography of capitalism’s

externalities and means to account for subjugated peoples within the
borders of wealthier countries.

3. Global South refers to the resistant imaginary of a transnational political subject

that results from a shared experience of subjugation under contemporary global
capitalism.
 • The Third World ("Tiers Monde") also are
those countries that did not align with either
the First World or Second World countries
after World War II and are described as less
developed countries. The Third World
included the developing nations of Africa,
Asia, and Latin America.
Alfred Sauvy, a French
demographer.
 Third
World

Developing Low & middle-

nations Underdeveloped income countries
countries
However,
globalization has had
its negative effects in
these less developed
nations.
EXPERIENCES OF
LATIN AMERICAN
COUNTRIES

• Debt crisis
• Hyperinflation
• Recession
• Transition from authoritarian to
democratic governments
 Topic 2
ASIAN
REGIONALISM
Regionalism may be defined as the
construction and utilization of multilateral
intergovernmental institutions to:

• share information
• develop, endorse, and enforce
common rules and regulations
• settle disputes

It can help Asia address regional

challenges as well as provide
stronger foundations for its global
role.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONALISM
 REGIONALISM –the process of dividing an area into smaller segments called
regions.

 GLOBALIZATION –the process of spreading of technology, products,

information and jobs across nations.

They also differ in terms of:

 Nature
 Market
 Cultural and social relations
 Aid
 Technological advances
 FACTORS LEADING TO THE
INTEGRATION OF THE ASIAN REGION
Regional Integration

-the act of bringing together smaller components into a single system that
functions as one.
-the ‘convergence of life chances without convergence of
lifestyles

• Mutual Benefit
• Trade
• Similar Culture
• Common Goals
• Similar Security Needs