This book has two mutually reinforcing aims/parts. The first aim is to contribute to a more productive debate between different theoretical standpoints. There is surprisingly little theoretical and conceptual debate in this burgeoning field, which is one major reason for the failure to fully grasp the diversity of today’s interregionalism. Too often theorists speak past each other, without really engaging with alternative theoretical perspectives or competing research results. Indeed, this book constitutes the first systematic attempt to bring together leading theories and theorists of interregionalism. Leading scholars from around the world develop their own distinctive theoretical perspectives on interregionalism, with a particular emphasis on the dynamic relationship between regionalism and interregionalism. These highly acclaimed theorists have all been associated over the years with a variety of disciplines, institutions, schools and debates and so bring a rich set of insights and connections to this pioneering project. The second part of the book ‘unpacks’ and problematises the region, the driving actors and institutions that are engaged in interregional relations. There is a strong tendency in the field to treat regions as coherent units actors in an interregional relationship, and such simplified notions about ‘regions’ and ‘regional organisations’ necessarily result in superficial and misleading understandings of interregionalism. This part of the book connects the theoretical discussion in the first part with a manageable empirical object.

This book focuses on interregional relations across the Atlantic and the possible evolution of a new, distinctive Atlantic space for international relations. It provides a comprehensive insight into the overlapping linkages of interregionalism in the wider Atlantic space. Additionally, it raises the question of relevance, currently the main question in this field of research: Is interregionalism important because it brings about something new that really matters or is it simply a (perhaps unavoidable) by-product of regionalism? The book conducts an analysis of six interregional relations criss-crossing the Atlantic space, accounting for the multitude of interregional connections within a potential Atlantic macro region and analysing the differences, conflicts and convergences between regional organizations. It engages with the issue of agency in interregional relations, and argues that interregional processes and agendas are always driven and constructed by certain actors for certain purposes.

This book addresses the question of how the American continent engages with various forms of interregionalism, including how different regions within the Americas deal with other regions of the world as well as how they relate among themselves. The presence of different political, economic, and cultural sub-regions within the Americas makes the continent a perfect setting to explore differences and commonalities in the western hemisphere’s relationship with other regions across the globe. Interregionalism and the Americas tackles three unifying questions. First, what type and understanding of interregionalism characterize the Americas’ way to interregionalism, if any? Second, is summitry ultimately the major visible feature of interregionalism in the Americas and beyond? Third, is there anything typical or characteristic in the way in which the Americas engage with interregionalism? This book contributes both to the theoretical debates about interergionalism and to the empirical understanding of the phenomenon and makes a compelling case to strengthen the inter-American system and to advance a “trilateral interregionalism” mechanism between North America, Latin America, and Europe to stand up for their common values, norms, and preferred international order.

This volume presents the state of the art of the new phenomenon interregionalism examining both empirical observations and theoretical explanations.

During the last two decades the study of European foreign policy has experienced remarkable growth, presumably reflecting a more significant international role of the European Union. The Union has significantly expanded its policy portfolio and though empty symbolic politics still exists, the Union’s international relations have become more substantial and its foreign policy more focused. European foreign policy has become a dynamic policy area, being adapted to changing challenges and environments, such as the Arab Spring, new emerging economies/powers; the crisis of multilateralism and much more. The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy, Two-Volume set, is a major reference work for Foreign Policy Programmes around the world. The Handbook is designed to be accessible to graduate and postgraduate students in a wide variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. Both volumes are structured to address areas of critical concern to scholars at the cutting edge of all major dimensions of foreign policy. The volumes are composed of original chapters written specifically to the following themes: · Research traditions and historical experience · Theoretical perspectives · EU actors · State actors · Societal actors · The politics of European foreign policy · Bilateral relations · Relations with multilateral institutions · Individual policies · Transnational challenges The Handbook will be an essential reference for both advanced students and scholars.

This edited volume approaches regionalism as one potential pattern in a changing global order. Since the end of the Cold War, different forms of territorialization have emerged and we are confronted with an increasing number and variety of actors that are establishing regional projects. This volume offers an innovative contribution to the study of this new complexity by exploring constellations of regional actors, spatial scales and imaginations beyond state-centred perspectives as well as on multiple, often overlapping levels. The chapters analyse the emergence, trajectories and outcomes of regionalisms from the perspective of the Global South, specifically concentrating on regional projects in Latin America and Africa, but also in the Asia-Pacific. They attempt to identify the specific conditions and junctures of different forms of region-making in their external (global) and internal (local/national) dimensions. The volume also places special emphasis on interactions, spatial entanglements and comparisons between regionalisms in different parts of the world. By expanding beyond the perspective of North-South transfers, this book seeks to better understand the dynamics and diversity of interregional interactions. This volume will appeal to scholars of global studies, international political economy, international relations, human geography, and development studies, as well as area studies specialists who focus on Latin America and Africa.

Is the EU isolated within the emergent multipolar world? Concentrating on interregional relations and focussing on the European Union’s (EU) evolving international role with regards to regional cooperation, this innovative book collects a set of fresh empirical analyses of interregional ties binding the EU with its Eastern and Southern neighbourhood, as well as with Asia, Africa and the Americas. The 25 leading authors from 5 continents have contributed original and diverse chapters and the book advances a novel theoretical ‘post-revisionist’ approach beyond both the Eurocentrism of ‘Europe First’ perspectives as well as the Euroscepticism of those advocating to simply move ’Beyond Europe’. After a Foreword by A. Acharya, the book’s five sections reflect the main drivers of EU interregional policies: The European Union as a Sophisticated Laboratory of Regional and Interregional Cooperation (with chapters by M. Telò, L. Fawcett and T. Risse), De Facto Drivers of Regionalism (F. Ponjaert, M. Shu, A. Valladão and C. Jakobeit), De Jure Drivers of Regionalism (S. Lavenex, G. Finizio, C. Jakobeit, R. Coman, C. Cocq & S. Teo L-Shah), Cognitive Drivers of Regionalism (J. Rüland, E. Fitriani, S. Stavridis & S. Kingah, P. Bacon), and Instrumental Drivers of Regionalism (B. Delcourt, C. Olsson & G. Müller, A. Malamud & P. Seabra and L. Fioramonti & J. Kostopoulos).

Is the EU isolated within the emergent multipolar world? Concentrating on interregional relations and focussing on the European Union’s evolving international role with regards to regional cooperation, this innovative book collects a set of fresh empirical analyses of interregional ties binding the EU with its Eastern and Southern neighbourhood, as well as with Asia, Africa and the Americas. The 25 leading authors from 5 continents have contributed original and diverse chapters and the book advances a novel theoretical ‘post-revisionist’ approach beyond both the Eurocentrism of ‘Europe First’ perspectives, as well as the Euroscepticism of those advocating to simply move ‘Beyond Europe’.