Occasional Paper #13:OP:3

by Raimo Vayrynen
 

This paper explores the dynamics, sources and management of regional cooperation by examining the post-socialist and post-hegemonic regionalisms of Central Europe and East Asia.

In Central Europe, although many efforts to facilitate cross-border cooperation have been made by economic actors, local authorities and civic organizations, its regionalism is primarily defined by hierarchical and formal groups of states. Few of these groupings are located in the region itself; rather the thrust is towards formal membership in state-based organizations outside the region, especially NATO and the European Union.

In East Asia, regional cooperation does not rely on any clearly formulated institutions or on elite or popular ideologies, except in the loose sense of talking about common Asian values. Cooperation is driven by a combination of corporate interests and strategic necessities. Although pious hopes are expressed about the emergence of an autonomous regional East Asian civil society, its rise anytime soon is quite unlikely. The growing multi-polarity of the region means that its development cannot be steered by any single country. Therefore, the regional power structure grows from the niche between governments and civil society, especially from the economic actors linked with the state in all major countries of the region.