The concept of regionalism is not new in international relations.
Regional implications were latent in certain traditional concepts of international law and international practice, such as the institution of neutralization of a particular state or ar...
The concept of regionalism is not new in international relations.
Regional implications were latent in certain traditional concepts of international law and international practice, such as the institution of neutralization of a particular state or area by collective guarantee, and the notion of "spheres of influence" and of "spheres of interest."
The explanation of the current stress on regionalism is historical in character.
The alleged deficiencies of the League of Nations and of the system of collective security in the interwar period were attributed to two facts in particular, both of which led thinkers on international affairs to advocate a greater use of regional arrangements and regional agencies. One fact was that certain countries stood outside the League of Nations system, whereas they might have participated in regional security and other arrangements confined to an area in which they were more directly interested. The other fact was the necessity for buttressing the League by coordinated security machinery operating in particular danger areas of the world, so as to ensure the direct collaboration of the states most interested in these areas.
So it was that, in the period immediately preceding World War II, writers and publicists urged the need for the conclusion of regional arrangements and for the creation of regional agencies in respect to regions of particular importance. The outbreak of war prevented such regional plans.
Since then, however, inter-American conferences and the creation of inter-American agencies have provided an excellent model of regionalism practically at work, and in the United Nations Charter specific provision was made for regional arrangements and regional agencies.
The object of this study is to consider briefly the various directions in which international organization has been influenced by regional developments, and the necessary limits of that influence.