The international system has been transformed by the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the decline of the Non-aligned Movement, and the rise of globalization. This volume explores one important feature of the new global politics – the emerging role of regional systems of relations. While the European Union is the most advanced case, most other parts of the world display at least the beginnings of regional systems. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the book examines these processes from a comparative perspective.

Focusing on all the major regions of the world, this book shows that regionalization is an unevenly developing, highly heterogeneous and multidimensional phenomenon. But in the search for a new basis for world order, it does constitute an interesting possibility.

The contributors come from a range of disciplines. Each is an area specialist. Their thoughtful, up-to-date analyses examine eleven different regions that are coming into existence in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Strong comparative essays put the empirical material in the context of the diverse strands of new thinking in international studies that is emerging.

The volume provides a useful text both for graduate and post-graduate students.