youssra
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF REGIONAL COOPERATION – A REVIEW
Introduction
The purpose of a theory and practice review is to investigate the theoretical and practical base of issues discussed in the research problem. A broad range of theory and practice of regional cooperation foundations of the research study was considered. The major aim was to determine whether existing theory and practice could explain or shed some light on the hypotheses under consideration. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part covers some of the definitions of regional cooperation as defined by various authors. The case for regional cooperation, the historical perspective, and its evolution will also be covered in the first part. The second part deals with the regional cooperation initiatives in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Indian Rim.
Definitions of Regional Cooperation
There are various definitions of regional cooperation that have been observed from different sources. Some are listed below:
» Regional cooperation (according to ADB, 2005; Haarlov, 1997; Schirm, 2002) is defined as the process/initiatives whereby nation states in common solve tasks and create improved conditions in order to maximise economic, political, social, and cultural benefits for each participating country. The emphasis is on nation states voluntarily agreeing on joint action in certain areas where they reckon that each country may achieve an outcome that is more favourable than if it had acted on its own. The cooperative efforts take place on a continuum stretching from a systematic framework,aiming at continuously increasing the level of cooperation, to an episodic style where cooperation is limited to scattered projects created more by coincidence than intent.
According to Axline (1994), the premise is that regional cooperation is the product of negotiations among a group of states, which result in common policies that satisfy the national interests of those states. Essentially, regional cooperation is the result of an agreement among these to pursue their interests through regional policies, often within a regional organisation. The type of organisation created for regional cooperation will depend, in part, on the interests the regional countries have in common, and the activities pursued by the organisation will depend on these interests. Ultimately, the success of regional cooperation will be determined by the ability of the organisation to satisfy those interests for each member state better than they can be satisfied by other means (for example, bilateral relations). Regional cooperation is seen by Mohanty (2000) as a fruitful way of tackling the problems arising out of a particular region. It owes its birth in a given region, in the face of a common challenge, to their economic and political stability or their shared ideology. Region, in the language of international politics, implies that the states in the group are interdependent in several respects, mainly because of their geographical relatedness, that this relatedness is a source of cultural and other affinities between these states, that consciousness of area identity can motivate some or all of those states to deal collectively with outside powers, and that policies towards any state in the group should take account of the likely reaction of its neighbours. Thus, the basis of regional cooperation begins with the geography, felt cultural and other affinities, and perceived interdependencies. Matlosa (2003) states that regional cooperation is a wide and open-ended concept referring to a variety of situations in which individual states and peoples, in a specific and well-defined “region”, deliberately interact through formal and informal schemes and networks across boundaries for mutual gain. Such interactions are theoretically driven by imperatives of economic reciprocity (mutual economic gain) among states,pooling of sovereignty by giving allegiance to, and abiding by, rules set out by supranational institutions (mutual political gain), and daily survival of the ordinary peoples of a region. It can also be perceived as an attempt by nation states to control,at the regional level, what they have increasingly failed to manage at the national and multilateral levels.The definition by ADB (2005), Haarlov (1997), and Schirm (2002) will be the primary focus of the research study. The definition incorporates interventionism and affirmative action designed to reduce spatial and structural inequalities in order to assist underdeveloped countries of the region and their peoples, it concentrates on the benefits to be derived from adopting a more interventionist and developmentally oriented approach to regional cooperation. It promotes efforts to coordinate regional development, the establishment of regional funds giving special priority to the least developed members of the region.
Table of contents
Abstract
Declaration
Acknowledgements
Dedication
List of chapters
List of tables
List of figures
List of appendices
List of abbreviations
Chapters
References
Bibliography
Appendices
Glossary
