Vinod K. Aggarwal and Edward Fogarty
European Union Trade Strategies: Between Globalism and Regionalism, 2004
This chapter provides the analytical framework for this volume to examine and characterize many of the world’s emerging interregional relationships. Focusing primarily on the motivations of the EU, we explore several potential explanations for the development of interregional agreements, including the interplay among sectoral interests, interagency rivalries, the dynamics of systemic level factors such as power balancing and nested institutions, and the vagaries of political and cultural identities. Moreover, we consider how different forms of interregionalism square with existing regional and global arrangements, and whether different institutional layers can be suitably reconciled. Our intent is to provide both analytical and policy-relevant work on the relatively new trend toward the formation of interregional agreements to examine if interregionalism represents more than a mere sideshow in the evolving face of international economic relations.