Regionalism in Pacific, ASEAN APEC ARF, Share

Regionalism in Pacific: APEC, ASEAN & ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

Pertemuan VI: 17 Oct 2012Jurusan Hubungan

InternasionalAli Rahman

Mahasiswa mengerti dan bisa menjelaskan Regionalism di Pasifik

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Regionalism in Pacific

Objectives in This Chapter

Dasar-dasar terbentuknya regionalisme di Pasifik dan eksistensi mereka dalam pola relasi di Pasifik

Munculnya ASEAN sebagai aktor penting di Pasifik


REGIONALISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS STUDY

The early debate on regionalism in the 1960s and 1970s was always centered on the European integration process, and the European experience was in many ways treated as a single case

1985 White Paper on the internal market and the Single European Act resulted in a new dynamic process of European integration.

This was also the start of what has often been referred to as the ‘new regionalism’ on a global scale.

Naturally, this attracted a lot of interest in the late 1980s and early 1990s.


(De Lombaerde et al, 2010)

POLA RELASI DI PASIFIK“The end of the Cold War created fresh opportunities for

regionalism in the Asia-Pacific region. Indeed, growing market driven economic interdependence in the Asia-Pacific created

more demand for cooperative problem solving”

“Interdependence is a feature in which natural or policy barriers are lower for commerce with some partners than with

others, and therefore economic relationships are deeper with some partners than with others”

-Richard Feinberg (2007)-


(Cited, Bendebka, 2012)

POLA RELASI DI PASIFIK


(Cited, Bendebka, 2012)

Concerning cooperation, the Asia-Pacific economies have no substantial history of regional consciousness in the level of institutional building.

At the same time, the ability to undertake collective action has always been quite poor in Asia-Pacific, relative to that prevailing in Europe and North America

Prior to the Second World War, the colonial form of economic regionalism prevailed in the Asia-Pacific Region, within monetary fiscal policies designed by home governments of the respective currency regimes

At the same time, the ASEAN countries for example, had diverse roots: Indonesia had colonial ties with Holland; Malaysia and Singapore had ties with Great Britain; and the Philippines with the United States; while Thailand always remained independent.

UNDERSTANDING REGIONALISMClub Theory Has been applied in wide range of contexts: military alliances,

international organizations, and cross-border infrastructure and services

club must satisfy two basic conditions:• A club must be self-sustaining.• A club must provide a large enough pool of net benefits for each of its members

The main lesson of club theory is that regional groupings should intervene regionally only where there are significant economies of scale, and avoid interventions where there are significant costs associated with isolation.


(An Asian Development Bank–Commonwealth Secretariat Joint Report to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2005)

THREE TYPES OF REGIONALISM (PICs CASE)*

Regional cooperation comprises dialogue and agreement between governments (e.g., Forum ministerial meetings, declarations, treaties). Implementation of agreements remains at the national level. Benefits include consensus building and information sharing.

Benefits and Costs: For regional cooperation, the benefits include increased

consensus building and policy coordination. Costs include setting up and maintaining the cooperative mechanisms themselves, and the cost of moving people around the region for meetings and conferences. These latter costs increase as more isolated countries are involved.




Regional Provision of Services governments can choose to pool their capacity to provide services. Regional provision of services is qualitatively no different than outsourcing or devolution of services to private sector providers.

Benefits and Cost For regional provision of services, the benefits include a higher

level of services provided, fewer facilities, more efficiency, and a higher degree of shared knowledge. The primary cost, much like cooperation, involves moving regional goods, services, and people over the large distances in the Pacific




Regional market integration is defined as lowering barriers for goods, services, and people between countries, including nontariff barriers such as nontransparent standards, restrictions on foreign investment or operations, and restrictive visa requirements.

Benefits and Costs For regional market integration, the benefits include a larger

market for Pacific firms, with more production at a lower cost, more choice for Pacific consumers, and more economic opportunities for Pacific workers. Costs include the political and adjustment costs of stronger Competitive pressures for Pacific companies, and further exacerbation of capacity weaknesses, especially in public sector bodies.



In the Pacific context, regional cooperation is insufficient to cope with many of the region’s challenges—despite this being a preferred method of regionalism in the Forum.

It will argue that given the Pacific’s unique characteristics, only by moving to “deeper” forms of regionalism—increased regional provision of services and regional market integration—will the Forum create the necessary pool of benefits needed to make regional institutions sustainable and beneficial to its members.


Implementation can either be voluntary or binding.

1. In a voluntary approach, there is zero cost to a member that does not implement the group’s decision.

2. A binding approach imposes costs for non-implementation. This can entail a financial loss, such as a fine, or a political loss, such as blocking a member's future participation in group decision-making councils.


TOWARD NEW PACIFIC REGIONALISM In this context, current Forum regionalism based to a large

degree on cooperation can help, but it cannot by itself address the root of the problem. A “deeper regionalism” is needed.

“A Pacific regionalism that speaks to Pacific needs must focus on easing capacity constraints for governments through increased

regional provision of services, and creating economic opportunity for Pacific citizens through increased regional market

integration”



To some observers regionalism was ‘new’, mainly in the sense that it represented a revival of protectionism or neo-mercantilism

But most observers highlighted the fact that closure of regions was not on the agenda, rather, the current regionalism was to be understood as ‘open regionalism’.

In the field of international relations, the studies of this so-called ‘new regionalism’ considered new aspects, particularly those focused on conditions related to what increasingly came to be labeled globalization

According to this type of scholarship there are many ways in which globalization and regionalism interact and overlap


(De Lombaerde et al, 2010)


The contemporary interest in regionalism, often referred to as “new regionalism”, is undoubtedly one of the important trends in contemporary international relations.

The study of new regionalism has much to do with the resurgence or emergence of regional organizations during the 1980s and 1990s.

The revival of academic interest in regionalism has been associated with a number of developments at a global level. These include, the end of the Cold War, the increase in economic interdependence, and globalization.

North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), which was created in 1991 in South America. In 1989, saw the birth of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).


(Bendebka, 2012)

DEFINING NEW REGIONALISM New regionalism may be defined as a multi-dimensional process

of regional integration that includes economic, political, social and cultural aspects (Hettne, 1995)

New regionalism may also mean a complex process of change simultaneously involving state as well as non-state actors, occurring as a result of global, regional, and national levels.

The objective of new regionalism is to activate the process of cooperation and integration as an instrument to enhance the role of the state in an interdependent world.


DEFINING NEW REGIONALISM And in terms of practice, APEC is a premier forum for facilitating

economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region

The old regionalism usually grouped together similar countries, with the most successful being developed countries, while the less successful were developing ones. In contemporary times, however, regional organizations, specifically APEC, can consist of both developed and developing countries.



Next Week’s TopicRegionalism in Pacific: Pacific Island Forum and Southwest

Pacific Forum Dasar-dasar terbentuknya regionalisme di

Pasifik dengan focus Negara-negara pulau di Pasifik

Learning Objectives: Mahasiswa mengerti dan bisa menjelaskan regionalism di Pasifik

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Regionalism in Pacific, ASEAN APEC ARF, Share