Browsing by Author "Ramzi, Bendebka"

Current interest in regionalism, often referred to as “new regionalism" or NR, is undoubtedly one of the important trends in contemporary international relations. Scholarly attention has been drawn to the creation of a number of regional organisations such as the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) that was created in 1991 in South America. Meanwhile, 1989 saw the birth of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The objective of this study is to determine the main characteristics of new regionalism. The second objective is to apply those characteristics to Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to determine whether APEC conforms to new regionalism. To maintain the research objectives, we adopt the new regionalism theory (NRT) as the framework of analysis. The discussion on NRT is divided into three sections. Firstly, definition of new regionalism. Secondly, the development of NR theory from different perspectives, and lastly, definitions of concepts (the features of new regionalism). The findings of the research can be summarized as follows. The key features of new regionalism are trade liberalisation, open regionalism, nondiscrimination, interdependency, and voluntarism. Despite some weaknesses and criticisms such as lack in an institutional building, the changing nature of APEC`s objectives, and the deviation from concentrating on economic to security issues especially after 9/11, APEC can be a model of new regionalism since the main features of the mentioned concept can be traced to it. With huge population in the fastest growing economies of the world that practice the features of new regionalism, APEC stands to be a global leader in trade and economy.

Regional experiences have certain assumptions in common and have been framed within a common globalist perspective. Nevertheless, each regional cooperation process has its own distinctive features. This diversity reflects the differential local characteristics of regionalism which need to be included in any discussion about the subject. The case of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) stands out clearly in this context. This study has addressed three major research questions. Firstly, what are the main features of regionalism?; secondly, what is the role of Islam in reshaping MENA`s regional cooperation?; thirdly, why has regional cooperation among countries in MENA taken the form that it has and what are the main factors in this process? The objectives are to investigate and examine the features of new regionalism with regard to (MENA), to examine the role of Islam in shaping MENA regional cooperation and to determine and analyse, the factors that influence cooperation in the MENA region. This study uses new regionalism (NR) as its theoretical framework. This theory has the following features: 1) geographical proximity; 2) trade liberalisation; 3) economic interdependence; 4) non-discrimination; 5) unilateral reform; and 6) religion values. This study also explains the main factors contributing to regionalism in the MENA region including: 1) colonialism; 2) conflicts; 3) system of governance; and 4) identity. The study found that: despite some positive signs of regionalism, MENA suffers from poor regionalism. It is characterised by slow trade liberalisation, weak regional import-export process, vague unilateral reform, and the absence of religious values. On the other hand, the dependence of MENA in political processes and economic development; conflicts, weak governance; and the suffering in promoting a collective identity has continued to preserve the MENA region as an under-developed, less integrated and poorly cohesive as a regional unit.