Class Discussion - Essay Example

Discussion Question The Most Convincing Interpretation The most convincing of all interpretations is the theory of regionalism. Economic regionalism refers to institutional arrangements planned to aid the free movement products and harmonize foreign financial policies between nations in the same geographic region. The endeavor can be viewed as a significant attempt of managing the opportunities and challenges created by the impressive increase in intercontinental economic ties since the end of the Second World War. Cases of economic regionalism consist of customs unions, common markets, free-trade areas and economic unions (Scholte 3). There is no other better way that could explain of economic globalization that this. According to Mittelman (53), globalization goes through macroregionalism supported by economic and states forces that seek to open larger markets as a way towards greater competitiveness. This is certainly true. Others have referred to the process of continental globalization in line with North America indicating that regionalism is the force through which globalization is conveyed (Scholte 7). Likewise, Mittelman’s analysis points to the emergence of global regions as the key factor leading to globalization. Take Europe for instance. The continent houses a majority of the world’s economic giants because of its regionalism policy advocated by the European Court for Human Rights. This body advocates for a ‘Social Europe’, the proposal of a federalist post-national Europe, which a majority of European nations have embraced, (Scholte 7). In these, the countries see the likelihood of a non-neoliberal, progressive regional system of authority in which the freeing of the markets for capital, goods, and labor occurs in the context of a rights-based, progressive, social system. These regional financial arrangements are rather different and range from foreign exchange reserve pooling and government financing to currency swap arrangements. What is widespread to all these schemes, in spite of their intrinsic variety, is that they all wish to promote regional integration along with financial and macroeconomic stability. Even though, there is a considerable stream of academic contributions on economic regionalism, people’s understanding of financial regionalism is fairly limited, despite its potentially wide-ranging effects in shaping the global financial structures (Veseth 40). Take for instance a continent like Europe, where the newly projected European Stability Mechanism is projected to be a legal tender union lending arrangement to offer direct assistance to countries in Europe and other regions. In Europe, just after the Second World War, the interdependence of the continent’s economies led to the formation of the European Payments Union, a forerunner of a much advanced framework, which culminated with the creations of the currency union in 1999. The organizations have been able to influence globalization all through Europe (Scholte 7). Latin America, on the other hand, boasts the oldest, even though less renowned tradition of regional assimilation efforts among the developing nations. These economic relations, in South America, also go as far back as the 50s. Hoping to produce a regional common market for countries in South America, lawmakers, in the region, have succeeded in setting up clearing arrangements for intraregional expenses, FLAR and two development banks. FLAR refers to a small and cozy membership of seven small, as well as medium-sized, economies with strong traditional ties. They also portray a wide set of common interests (Veseth 50). In reality, FLAR offers a direct proof to the potential of regional associations to offer greater ownership to member countries that would otherwise put a lot of efforts to be heard in the international, 188-member IMF. The search for alternative futures for the region, in the Americas, in many ways, reflects the talks taking place within the broader "anti-globalization" movement. They perceive the regional improvements will be the key of overcoming the economic hardships being experienced in the continent (Scholte 8). There are also reformers, possibly found most highly in academic circles, but also apparent in the Quebec dominion movement, who see prospects for changing American integration onto a track almost similar to the European model. The unsettlements being experienced in East Asia are because the continent has failed to consider the importance of regionalism. In this part of Asia, regionalism is not well developed at the governance level with multifaceted interactions of developmental states, as well as regional trade liberalization initiatives. Civil society organizations have more compound relations with the state in many nations, and soft authoritarianism is a more durable political system (Scholte 8). It is because of failing to embrace regionalism that East Asia has both some of the economic giants of the world such as China and Japan and also some the poorest countries is the World. Even though, globalization has been explained in numerous ways, the best way of, which seems to stand out from the rest, is the common theme of regionalism. Regionalism generates more and more intense interactions between societies and nations in a particular region through flows of money, goods, people, images ideas and information. Regionalism creates these intense interactions by making state-boundaries less significant (Veseth 54). This makes the current growth of financial regionalism amidst globalization quite a paradoxical occurrence and has generated significant academic interest in the affiliation between them. Whereas globalization appears to deemphasize territories, regionalism appears to be an endeavor by nations to re-impose them differently (Veseth 54). This consequently creates a new and larger space out of smaller territorial bounded in nation-states. In conclusion, the type of regionalism that appears due to globalization is intervened by domestic political market dynamics focused, on the one hand, on the tension between growth or efficiency concerns and distributive priorities. This is why regionalism is the best example of explaining economic globalization. Policymakers, in order to ensure that countries from other parts of the world do not take advantage of them, should seek first to improve the financial situation of their regions before expanding. Policymakers should interpret external events and developments through lenses beached in domestic priorities, which also persuade their responses to these external situations, including their essential approaches to regionalism. As a growing number of International Relations, scholars assert that external events attain political importance only when they are factored into national politics in a manner that accommodates the interests, and strategies of local nations. The domestic level is obviously a vital mediating factor between regional outcomes and globalization. Works Cited Mittelman, James. The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Print. Scholte, Jan. Globalization: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print. Veseth, Michael. Globaloney: Unraveling the Myths of Globalization. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006. Print. Read More