POL 5032 Week VI

What are the core theoretical arguments that underpin Regionalism?  Can we argue that Balassa is correct?  Is a Federation of states the correct endpoint for a supranational regional entity?

Earlier on this blog, and in my first Scramble book, I wrote on the various theories of regionalism.  At the time I wanted to explore Mitrany, Haas, Balassa, Hettne  and Amin in order to ascertain how regions evolve.  Key to my research was, first, whether economics produced a ‘political spillover’ within a region, and second, whether regionalism was a response to globalization or a stepping stone to yet greater global economic integration. 

The research was centered on Africa, which suffered from three core problems prior to the turn of the century: (1) there was a singular lack of FDI; (2) trade was skewed in favour of developed nations; and (3) there was still a problem of small markets, essentially the legacy of colonialism.

 The solution mooted was regionalism, and a debate ensued over the merits of ‘open regionalism’ as opposed to state intervention.  In tracking President Thabo Mbeki’s ideas, I arrived at a notion of ‘developmental functionalism’ where the state took on an economic role through parastatals in order to pay side payments to labour while creating regional development.

Now in focusing on Europe and the development of the European Union, the issue turns on whether economics, through open regionalism, works at all.  Is there in fact any ‘political spillover’ from the region’s economic activity, and can we really accept the theories espoused by both Haas and Balassa.? 

Moreover, when the arguments are coupled with arguments on the Euro and Mundell’s theories of Optimal Currency Areas, the appearance of a Federal United States of Europe looks very much like a pipe dream.

Week VII will be reserved for a discussion on Federalism versus Confederation within the context of the European courts, so the discussion this week should remain centered on regional theory.  In essence, does economics really trump politics, or are we being seduced by mere myth when following Haas and Balassa?