LESSON 3

A World of Regions
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 Topics:
1. Global Divides: Locating the Global South
2. Asian Regionalism

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. define the term “Global South”;
2. differentiate the Global South from the Third World;
3. differentiate between regionalization and globalization; and
4. identify the factors leading to greater integration of the Asian region.
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 Now, we will talk about this.
TOPIC 2: ASIAN REGIONALISM
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 Another way of looking at the world apart
from distinctions of ‘global north’ and ‘global
south’—these are social constructs connoting the
unevenness and inequality inherent with
globalization which produces winners and losers
in social, political, and economic senses—is
through the idea of regions.
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 FEATURES OF REGIONALISM (Claudio & Abinales, 2018)
 The concept encompasses a broader area, although often seen as a political and economic
phenomenon.

 Regionalism, as a phenomenon, can be examined in relation to social structures such as identities,

ethics, religion, ecological sustainability, and health among others.

 A process that must be treated as an “emergent, socially constituted phenomenon”  It means that
regions are not natural or given (not established since the beginning of time), instead, they are
constructed and defined by policymakers, economic actors, civil society, and even social
movements.
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  Conceptualizing the region (Mansfield & Milner, 1999; Claudio & Abinales, 2018).

1. Regions are “a group of countries located in the same geographically specified area” or “an
amalgamation of two regions [or] a combination of more than two regions” organized to regulate and
“oversee flows and policy choices”.

2. A region’s implication moves beyond the proximity of constituent states. Apart from this
proximity, “members of a common region also share cultural, economic, linguistic, or political ties.

3. Regionalization and regionalism should not be interchanged.

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 Regionalization – regional concentration of economic flows; the growing intensity of
interaction and cooperation between neighboring countries

Regionalism – a political process characterized by economic policy cooperation and

coordination among countries; pertains more on intergovernmental collaborations

 Several reasons for forming regional alliances:

a. Military defense e.g. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

b. Trading partners – countries can pool their resources, get better returns for their exports,
and expand their leverage in the trading arena.

c. Protect independence from pressures of superpower politics

d. Economic crisis compels countries to come together

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  Several reasons for forming regional alliances:

a. Military defense e.g. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

b. Trading partners – countries can pool their resources, get better returns for their exports, and
expand their leverage in the trading arena.

c. Protect independence from pressures of superpower politics

d. Economic crisis compels countries to come together

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 The three (3) frameworks for understanding the relationship between globalization
and the regions of the Asia Pacific and South Asia are (Kimura, 2014):
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  BENEFITS OF ASIA FROM REGIONALISM (ADB, 2008: 13)

1. link the competitive strengths of its diverse economies in order to boost their productivity and sustain the region’s
exceptional growth;

2. connect the region’s capital markets to enhance financial stability, reduce the cost of capital, and improve
opportunities for sharing risks;

3. cooperate in setting exchange rates and macroeconomic policies to minimize the effects of global and regional shocks
and to facilitate the resolution of global imbalances;

4. pool the region’s foreign exchange reserves to make more resources available for investment and development;

5. exercise leadership in global decision-making to sustain the open global trade and financial systems that have
supported a half-century of unparalleled economic development;

6. build connected infrastructure and collaborate on inclusive development to reduce inequalities within and across
economies and thus strengthen support for pro-growth policies; and

7. create regional mechanisms to manage cross-border health, safety, and environmental issues better.
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  BENEFITS THE WORLD GAIN FROM ASIAN REGIONALISM (ADB, 2008: 14)

1. generate productivity gains, new ideas, and competition that boost economic growth and raise incomes
across the world;

2. contribute to the efficiency and stability of global financial markets by making Asian capital markets
stronger and safer, and by maximizing the productive use of Asian savings;

3. diversify sources of global demand, helping to stabilize the world economy and diminish the risks
posed by global imbalances and downturns in other major economies;

4. provide leadership to help sustain open global trade and financial systems; and

5. create regional mechanisms to manage health, safety, and environmental issues better, and thus
contribute to more effective global solutions to these problems.
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Thank
you!
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