Abstract
Form and content of interregional relations reflect the dynamics generated by the specific regionalism existing in the regions considered. Nowhere is interregionalism’s subordination to regionalism clearer than in the North Atlantic. The experiences with regionalism of Europe and North America differ considerably, as the former has experimented radically in regional integration while the latter has made only modest steps. Consequently, interregionalism provides for a poor analytical grid to understand North Atlantic relations. The latter are better grasped instead if a regionalism-informed conceptual framework is applied, as after all the North Atlantic displays features that fit a regionalism prism. After outlining a conceptual framework to understand regions, the chapter briefly compares Europe’s and North America’s regionalism before delving into the analysis of the North Atlantic as a sui generis bicontinental region.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The concept of region, as it defines a separate level of governance, is applicable to subnational governance too (Van Langenhove 2012: 18).
- 2.
The literature on the security dilemma is vast. Our analysis uses Alexander Wendt’s understanding of it as a social construction resulting from the intersubjective understanding of states rather than an objective state of reality that reflects the supposedly anarchic nature of international relations (Wendt 1992: 397; see also Wendt 1999).
- 3.
The EU and Mexico signed a trade agreement in 1997 that was later upgraded into a free trade area for goods and services. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a more ambitious document, is more recent (2014).
References
Adler, E., & Barnett, M. (1998). Security communities in theoretical perspective. In E. Adler & M. Barnett (Eds.), Security communities (pp. 3–28). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Alcaro, R. (2016). The paradoxes of the liberal order: Transatlantic relations and security governance. In R. Alcaro, J. Peterson, & N. Tocci (Eds.), The West and the global power shift (pp. 197–219). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Baert, F., Scaramagli, T., & Söderbaum, F. (2014a). Introduction. In F. Baert, T. Scaramagli, & F. Söderbaum (Eds.), Intersecting interregionalism. Regions, global governance and the EU (pp. 1–14). Dordrecht/Heidelberg/New York/London: Springer.
Baert, F., Scaramagli, T., & Söderbaum, F. (2014b). Conclusion. In F. Baert, T. Scaramagli, & F. Söderbaum (Eds.), Intersecting interregionalism. Regions, global governance and the EU (pp. 169–182). Dordrecht/Heidelberg/New York/London: Springer.
Christiansen, T., Jørgensen, K. E., & Wiener, A. (2001). The social construction of Europe. London: Sage.
Deutsch, K. W., et al. (1957). Political community and the North Atlantic area: International organisation in the light of historical experience. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Doidge, M. (2014). Interregionalism and the European Union: Conceptualising Group-to-Group relations. In F. Baert, T. Scaramagli, & F. Söderbaum (Eds.), Intersecting interregionalism. Regions, global governance and the EU (pp. 37–54). Dordrecht/Heidelberg/New York/London: Springer.
Fioramonti, L. (2012). Building regions from below: Has the time come for regionalism 2.0? The International Spectator, 47(1), 151–160.
Fioramonti, L. (2014). Conclusion: The future of regionalism. In L. Fioramonti (Ed.), Regions and crises. New challenges for contemporary regionalisms (pp. 220–230). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Graham, W. C. (1997). NAFTA vis a vis the E.U. – Similarities and differences and their effects on member countries. Canada-United States Law Journal, 23(123).
Habermas, J., & Derrida, J. (2003). What binds European together: A plea for a common foreign policy, beginning in the core of Europe. Constellations, 10(3), 291–297.
Haftendorn, H., Keohane, R. O., & Wallander, C. A. (1999). Imperfect unions. Security institutions over time and space. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, D. S. (2014). TTIP’s geostrategic implications. In D. S. Hamilton (Ed.), The geopolitics of TTIP (pp. vii–xxxii). Washington, DC: Center for Transatlantic Relations.
Hamilton, D. S., & Quinlan, J. P. (2016). The transatlantic economy 2016: Annual survey on jobs, rade and investment between the United States and Europe. Washington, DC: Center for Transatlantic Relations.
Hettne, B. (2014), Regional actorship: A comparative approach to interregionalism. In F. Baert, T. Scaramagli, & F. Söderbaum (Eds.), Intersecting interregionalism. Regions, Global Governance and the EU (pp. 55–57). Dordrecht/Heidelberg/New York/London: Springer
Hill, C., & Smith, M. (2005). Acting for Europe: Reassessing the European Union’s place in international relations. In C. Hill & M. Smith (Eds.), International relations and the European Union (pp. 458–481). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Howorth, J. (2014). European security Post-Libya and Post-Ukraine: In search of core leadership. In N. Tocci (Ed.), Imagining Europe. Towards a more united and effective EU (pp. 133–162). Nuova Cultura: Rome.
Hurrell, A. (2007). One world? Many worlds? The place of regions in the study of international society. International Affairs, 83(1), 127–146.
Kagan, R. (2003). Of paradise and power. America and Europe in the new world order. New York: Random House.
Kazal, R. A. (1995). Revisiting assimilation: The rise, fall and reappraisal of a concept in American ethnic history. The American Historical Review, 100(2), 437–471.
Keohane, R. O. (1993). Institutionalist theory and the realist challenge after the Cold War. In D. Baldwin (Ed.), Neorealism and neoliberalism. The contemporary debate (pp. 269–300). New York: Columbia University Press.
Lake, D. A. (2006). Hierarchy in international relations: Authority, sovereignty and the new structure of world politics. San Diego: University of California San Diego.
McCalla, R. B. (1996). NATO’s persistence after the Cold War. International Organisation, 50(3), 445–475.
McNamara, K. R. (2008). The ties that bind? US-EU economic relations and the institutionalisation of the Atlantic Alliance. In J. Anderson, J. Ikenberry, & T. Risse (Eds.), The end of the West? crisis and change in the Atlantic order (p. 157–185). Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press.
Mearsheimer, J. (1990). Back to the future. Instability in Europe after the Cold War. International Security, 15(1), 5–56.
Menon, A. (2014). The JCMS annual review lecture: Divided and declining? Europe in a changing world. Journal of Common Market Studies, 52(1), 5–24.
Merlingen, M., & Ostrauskaite, R. (2006). European Union peacebuilding and policing. Abbingdon/New York: Routledge.
Moravcsik, A. (1993). Preferences and power in the European Community: A liberal intergovernmentalist approach. Journal of Common Market Studies, 31(4), 473–524.
Moravcsik, A. (1998). The choice for Europe: Social purpose and state power from Messina to Maastricht. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Novosseloff, A. (2012). Options for improving UN-EU cooperation in the field of peacekeeping. In J. Krause & N. Ronzitti (Eds.), The EU, the UN and collective security (pp. 150–174). London: Routledge.
Nuttall, S. (2000). European foreign policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pastor, R. (2003, June). North America: Three nations, a partnership, or a community? Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series, 5(13).
Pollack, M. (2012). Realist, intergovernmental and institutionalist approaches. In E. Jones, A. Menon, & S. Weaterhill (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the European Union (pp. 3–17). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Risse, T. (2012, September). Determinants and features of international alliances and partnerships (Transworld Working Paper).
Robberecht, M.J. (2013, October). The European Union external action in time of crisis and change: Impact of the economic and financial crisis. GREEN European Policy Brief.
Rosato, S. (2011). Europe united: Power politics and the making of the European community. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Tocci, N. (2014). On power and norms: Libya, Syria and the responsibility to protect (Transatlantic Academy 2013–2014 Paper Series No. 2).
Tull, D. (2012). UN peacekeeping missions during the past two decades. In J. Krause & N. Ronzitti (Eds.), The EU, the UN and collective security (pp. 117–149). London: Routledge.
Van Langenhove, L. (2012). Why we need to ‘Unpack’ regions to compare them more effectively. The International Spectator, 47(1), 16–29.
Waltz, K. (1979). Theory of international politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Waltz, K. (1993). The emerging structure of international politics. International Security, 18(22), 44–79.
Waltz, K. (2000). Structural realism after the Cold War. International Security, 25(1), 5–41.
Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization, 46(2), 391–425.
Wendt, A. (1999). Social theory of international politics. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wiener, A., & Diez, T. (2009). European integration theories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alcaro, R., Reilly, P. (2018). The North Atlantic: A Case of Bicontinental Regionalism. In: Mattheis, F., Litsegård, A. (eds) Interregionalism across the Atlantic Space. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62908-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62908-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62907-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62908-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)