Majority of one: towards a theory of regional compatibility

In the period since World War II no international development has been more baffling than the progress and regress of the regional movement. It remains a matter of controversy as to whether regionalism has had a beneficial influence upon the overall quest for world order. Has it protected or jeopardized the economic destinies and political independence of smaller states? Has the claim of regional authorization been used by the most powerful states, especially the United States and the Soviet Union, to disguise their control over political developments in their respective spheres of influence? Does the growth of regional institutions reinforce or undermine the role of the United Nations in matters of peace and security? Do strong regional institutions facilitate or inhibit a transition toward a safer system of world order in which national governments are substantially disarmed and more peaceful procedures are relied upon to resolve international disputes? The literature devoted to regionalism has not cast much light upon these fundamental lines of inquiry. The valuable scholarship in the area has been devoted mainly to the study of the dynamics of supranational integration at the regional (or subsystemic) level. Much of this literature has concentrated upon regional integration in the European context,partly because it was in Europe that the most ambitious steps toward integration were being taken in the years after 1945. Other less influential work on regionalism has consisted of a series of case studies of particular regional projects such as the Arab League, the Organization of Africa Unity, or the Organization of American States. These case studies treat a particular regional organization by examining its underlying constitutional structure, by narrating the main events in its organizational career, and by appraising its successes and failures. Generalizations about regionalism are rarely attempt ed in these case studies and no very clear conceptual categories are used to depict the history of the regional movement under scrutiny.