THE REGIONALISM IN THE WORLD ECONOMY: NOVEL EXPECTATIONS FROM AN OLD HABIT

Year 1998, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 1 - 30, 22.06.1998

M. Sait Akman Muzaffer Dartan

https://doi.org/10.29228/mjes.308

Abstract

World economic relationships have recently been transformed by a process of
globalisation whereby economic activity between nations and blocs of nations has
become influenced by and (arguably) inextricably linked to the resurgence of the regional
integration arrangements (RIAs). This article postulates that, despite the fact
that regional bloc formation is not something new, the old theory and practice of regionalism
cannot adequately describe the spirit and structure of modern RIAs. This
study attempts to assess what countries expect to gain from membership of RIAs
and tries to distinguish the motives and forces which derive them towards such organisations.
In this respect, modern RIAs are compared with the initial, post-war,
model of regional integration. The authors seek to establish that, as regional economies
have become increasingly interdependent and homogenous, ever deeper regionalism
has become the favorued means of economic regulation unless prompt
and wide-ranging multilateral solutions are available to reverse this trend.

Keywords

-, REGIONALISM, WORLD ECONOMY, EU

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