The formation of sovereign states in regional blocks has become an essential feature in the world system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate which motives and driving forces that affect the creation of projects of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World. By choosing the Latin American project of integration ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) as a case of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World, the study investigates the motives expressed by the most prominent actors of the project, Venezuela and Cuba. ALBA is chosen as a representative and a unique case and through the consumption of the gramscian and the realist approaches, the essay defines two motives that affect the creation of projects of regional integration. As a way of investigating the actors’ motives, the paper studies political statements, especially those of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and official positions expressed in central documents and declarations. The result shows that the motives behind ALBA are to promote a regionalism that gives priority to social welfare issues and to use this regional organization to create a multipolar world system. The essay concludes, with ALBA as a case, that the fundamental motives that could govern the regional integration process outside Europe and the Western World are, firstly, the will to resist a hegemonic world order that doesn’t give priority to social welfare issues and, secondly, to resist a unipolar world system and work as a “balancer”. While this applies to Venezuela, there are in the case of Cuba certain self-interests that could serve as motives. However, the study can’t rule out that also other motives can exist, but there is no evidence that can be used to prove that in this paper.

This research aims to understand the nature and underlying motives of the EU’s relations with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The frequently claimed normative role of the EU will be examined in the context of the EU- CELAC summit relations, and the cases should be outlined that cause a switch to Realpolitik behavior. Thereby, the EU’s engagement in regional integration and interregional cooperation will be illustrated and EU-CELAC cooperation areas concerning the fight against poverty and social inequality, the consolidation of good governance and the promotion of peace, and lastly, the regional integration, trade, and economic cooperation are analyzed to reach an understanding of their normative or Realpolitik content. The research illustrates the ways of understanding the EU’s normative behavior and power, and the nature of the cooperation between the EU and the CELAC, whereby it should be shown that the EU acts according to normative consideration and only in few exceptions turns towards Realpolitik behavior.

Magister Artium - MA / This dissertation explores the potential contributions of the mechanisms for early warning and intelligence sharing to regional security in Africa. The Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) and the Committee on Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) are centrally concerned with the dissemination of information to enable decision-making on continental security. The main focus of the dissertation is on the manner in which the information generated by the CEWS and CISSA can contribute to regional security. In order to analyse the potential contribution of the CEWS and CISSA to regional security, a sound theoretical framework is proposed so as to explore how and why states choose to cooperate, as well as addressing multifaceted cooperation and integration at inter-state, government department and nonstate levels. Constructivist interpretations of international cooperation are utilised to explore the role of ideas, meanings and understandings in shaping behaviour. The focus is placed on the manner in which interaction as provided for by the CEWS and CISSA can shape understandings of reality and potentially impact on the definition of actors' interests. This is based on the assumption drawn from security community and epistemic community theory that, enabling the creation of shared meanings and shared knowledge there is the potential for both the CEWS and CISSA to have a positive influence on the choices that stakeholders take in favour of peaceful change. / South Africa

Masters administration (M. Admin) / The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states, emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration, infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations; and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact. / South Africa

Doctor Legum - LLD / The Member States of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) have set as their objectives, amongst others, the facilitation of cross-border movement of goods between the territories of the Member States and the promotion of the integration of Member States into the global economy through enhanced trade and investment. Different approaches to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments by Member States and the risk of non-enforcement may lead to legal uncertainty and increased transaction cost for prospective traders, which ultimately act as non-tariff barriers to trade in the region. Trade is critical to Southern Africa, and the ideal is that barriers to trade, of which uncertainty concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments among Member States is one, should be removed. Certainty, predictability, security of transactions, effective remedies and cost are important considerations in investment decision-making; and clear rules for allocating international jurisdiction and providing definite and expedited means of enforcing foreign judgments will facilitate intraregional as well as interregional trade. In addition to trade facilitation, a harmonised recognition and enforcement regime will consolidate economic and political integration in the SACU. An effective scheme for the mutual recognition and enforcement of civil judgments has been regarded as a feature of any economic integration initiative likely to achieve significant integration. While the harmonisation of the rules on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments has been given priority in other regional economic communities, in particularly the European Union, any similar effort to harmonise the rules on recognition and enforcement of Member States have been conspicuously absent in the SACU – a situation which needs to receive immediate attention. The thesis considers the approaches followed by the European Union with the Brussels Regime, the federal system of the United States of America under the ‘full faith and credit clause’; the inter-state recognition scheme under the Australia and New Zealand Trans-Tasman judicial system; as well as the convention-approach of the Latin American States. It finds that the most suitable approach for the SACU is the negotiation and adoption by all SACU Member States of a multilateral convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, comparable to the 1971 Convention of the Hague Conference on Private International Law; the EU Brussels I Regulation and the Latin-American Montevideo Convention, as complemented by the La Paz Convention. It is imperative that a proposed convention should not merely duplicate previous efforts, but should be drafted in the light of the legal, political and socio-economic characteristics of the SACU Member States. The current legislative provisions in force in SACU Member States are compared and analysed, and the comparison and analysis form the basis of a proposal for a future instrument on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments for the region. A recommended draft text for a proposed Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments for the SACU is included. This draft text could form the basis for future negotiations by SACU Member States. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil

Avec le lancement de l'initiative pour l'intégration de l'infrastructure régionale sud-américaine (IIRSA), la construction d'un couloir de circulation ≪ bi-océanique ≫ cherche à relier l'Atlantique et le Pacifique par le fleuve Amazone. Ce projet, sous-tendu par un diagnostic économique selon lequel la situation de ≪ sous-développement ≫ est due a l'existence d'un≪ déficit ≫ en matière d'infrastructures, entend pallier ce manque en proposant un programme d'équipement du territoire unifié a l'échelle de l'Amérique du Sud. La pleine réalisation de ce programme ferait perdre leur pertinence aux entraves au commerce et permettrait d'intégrer des espaces marginalisés à l'économie productive. Toutefois, la réalisation de l' ≪ axe amazonien ≫soulève de nombreux enjeux environnementaux et sociaux qui donnent lieu à la mise en forme d'un discours critique sur l'opportunité du projet, a l'émergence d'une mobilisation qui s'y oppose et dans certains cas à la formation de conflits locaux.Cette étude considère l'Amazonie comme un laboratoire de la confrontation de deux paradigmes concurrents : la conquête de la frontière économique comme moteur du développement et celui de la préservation du ≪ poumon de la planète ≫. S'appuyant sur des données collectées dans le cadre de trois projets de l'axe amazonien de l'IIRSA (en Colombie,en Equateur et au Pérou), cette étude propose une enquête comparative sur plusieurs niveaux (international, national et local) afin de mener une réflexion croisée sur l'articulation des différents niveaux de gouvernement (intégration régionale, gouvernance locale), mais aussi d'étudier les rapports de force entre deux modèles de développement contradictoires. / Launched as part of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in SouthAmerica (IIRSA), the construction of a “bi-oceanic” corridor intends to link the Atlantic withthe Pacific through the Amazon river. This project finds its roots in the economic assessment that explains “under-development” by the existence of a gap in terms of infrastructure. A unified program of land planning proposed by IIRSA was conceived in order to bridge this gap. The full implementation of this program would reduce trade barriers and integrate marginalized territories to the productive economy. However, the implementation of the“Amazonian axis” raises many environmental and social issues that have sparked a critical discourse regarding the legitimacy of the project as well as opposition movements whose mobilization led, in some cases, to the formation of local conflicts.This study considers the Amazon as a laboratory for the study of a confrontation between two competing paradigms: the conquest of the frontier as a driver of economic growth and the preservation of the “lung of the Earth”. Based on data collected on three of the IIRSA's Amazonian projects (in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), this study uses a comparative approach on different levels (international, national and local) in order to conduct a cross-reflection on multi-level governance (regional integration, local governance) and to examine power relations between two antagonist development models.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte de prolifération des accords commerciaux régionaux (ACR) et traite des effets des ACR sur le commerce international. Nous visons à mieux comprendre et à apporter des points de vue nouveaux sur le rôle des ACR et du régionalisme en général en tant qu’élément important de la politique commerciale international aujourd’hui. Dans le premier chapitre, nous revisitons les effets ex post des ACR sur le commerce des pays membres et le commerce extrabloc en adoptant une approche empirique. Nous cherchons à déterminer la manière dont les blocs commerciaux régionaux affectent le commerce non seulement entre pays membres mais aussi entre pays membres et pays extérieurs à l’accord. Notre analyse confirme que les ACR augmentent de manière significative le commerce intra-bloc ; néanmoins, dans de nombreux cas, les ACR impliquent des effets de détournement d’échanges qui sont préjudiciables au reste du monde. Le chapitre deux examine de quelle manière la période de mise en œuvre de l’accord et les niveaux de développement des pays membres déterminent, en dynamique, l’effet des ACR sur le commerce international. Nous obtenons des tendances distinctes des effets ex post de l’ACR sur le commerce entre les accords Nord-Nord, Sud-Sud et Nord-Sud. Nous vérifions empiriquement que les ACR conclus par des partenaires commerciaux ayant un statut de développement économique analogue (les accords Nord-Nord ou Sud-Sud) sont susceptibles d’engendrer une augmentation plus forte du commerce des membres pendant une période de mise en œuvre plus courte. Le chapitre trois porte sur la manière dont les interactions entre ACR et développement financier influencent les flux d'échanges entre partenaires commerciaux. Dans ce travail conjoint avec Anne-Gaël Vaubourg, nous montrons que le développement financier (particulièrement sous sa forme intermédiée) encourage les échanges commerciaux mais que cet effet est atténué dès lors que les partenaires commerciaux ont signé un ACR. / The subject of this dissertation focuses on the analysis of different aspects of the relationship between regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. We aim to provide a fresh understanding and views of the role of RTAs and regionalism in general as an important feature of international trade policy today. In chapter one we revisit the ex post effects of RTAs on member countries’ trade and extrabloc trade by adopting an empirical approach. We explore how regional trading blocs have influenced trade among members as well as trade with nonmembers. Our analysis confirms the widespread trade-enhancing effects of RTAs on member countries’ trade; however, in many cases, they lead to trade diversion effects that are detrimental to the rest of the world. Chapter two takes a closer look at how the implementation period of trade liberalization and partners’ levels of development affect the RTA dynamic effects on trade over time. We obtain distinct patterns of ex post RTA effects on trade across North-North RTAs, South-South RTAs and North-South RTAs. We empirically validate that RTAs formed by trading partners experiencing similar economic development status (North-North RTAs or South-South RTAs) are likely to lead to a larger increase in members’ trade during a shorter implementation period. Chapter three studies the mechanism through which RTAs impact the effect of financial development on trade flows between exporting and importing countries. In this joint work with Anne-Gaël Vaubourg, we show that the trade-enhancing role of financial development in the exporting country—especially through intermediated finance—is mitigated when there is an RTA between this country and its trading partner.

The emergence of the African Union (AU) is seen as an effort to reposition Africa for the challenges of contemporary global realpolitik and, in particular, it provides a road map towards the attainment of a political union. The institutional architecture of the AU, modelled after the European Union (EU), indicates an intention on the part of the architects of the AU to endow the organisation with supranational attributes. However, none of its institutions has as yet started to exercise supranational powers. It is against this background that this thesis explores the feasibility of transforming the AU from a mere intergovernmental organisation into a supranational entity. In the course of the investigation, it was found that a major obstacle to realising this is the absence of shared democratic norms and standards, a consequence of the unconditional membership ideology of the AU. This thesis argues that the starting point of closer integration in Africa should be the cultivation and adoption of shared norms and values. To address this, the study proposes that the AU design an institutional mechanism for regulating its membership. Using the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as a case study, this study shows that it is possible to establish a regulatory regime based on strict adherence to shared fundamental norms and values. A major recommendation is the transformation of the APRM into a legally binding instrument for setting continental democratic standards, assessing whether member states fulfil these standards and ultimately determining which member states are qualified, based on objective standards, to be part of a democratic AU. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Public Law / unrestricted

[pt] A América Latina tem uma larga tradição no debate do regionalismo, mobilizando reflexões originais no processo de produção de conhecimentos e saberes sobre a integração regional latinoamericana. Ao considerar esse rico acervo, o presente trabalho busca analisar conjugadamente os conceitos de integração regional, autonomia e desenvolvimento que atravessam tanto o campo de estudos do regionalismo quanto a atuação de comunidades epistêmicas – formal ou informalmente – reconhecidas por aglutinar atores (intelectuais, acadêmicos, diplomáticos, atores sociais e políticos) e instituições (universidades, redes, think tanks, órgãos governamentais e organismos regionais) responsáveis por formular, implementar e difundir conhecimentos teóricos e práticos sobre a integração regional e que reúnam capacidade de influenciar a política e os tomadores de decisão na região. O trabalho fez uso da pesquisa qualitativa sendo guiado pela abordagem multidisciplinar, promovendo o debate na área de relações internacionais, sociologia e geopolítica. Visando alcançar os objetivos delineados, foi realizada a revisão bibliográfica dos processos de integração e regionalismo conectada ao marco conceitual das comunidades epistêmicas no contexto latinoamericano e caribenho. Nesse sentido, a discussão foi potencializada pela pesquisa de campo que alcançou 32 entrevistas semiestruturadas com atores de perfil acadêmico, político, sindical e diplomático de oito nacionalidades que se disponibilizaram a responder as questões sobre o sentido da integração latino-americana, o histórico do regionalismo, o cenário atual e o futuro da agenda regional no continente. Por fim, a pesquisa buscou ilustrar um breve panorama da governança regional, bem como indicar tendências e capacidades de influenciar políticas públicas e tomadores de decisão nos países e blocos regionais além de dar visibilidade à atuação de comunidades epistêmicas potenciais, viáveis e prováveis para orientar, apoiar e articular os processos de integração contemporânea da América Latina. / [en] Latin America has a long tradition in the debate on regionalism, mobilizing original reflections in the process of producing knowledge and insight on Latin American regional integration. Considering this rich collection, the present work seeks to jointly analyze the concepts of regional integration, autonomy and development that cross both the field of regionalism studies and the performance of epistemic communities – formally or informally – recognized for bringing together actors (intellectuals, academics, diplomatic, social and political actors) and institutions (universities, networks, think tanks, government agencies and regional institutions) responsible for formulating, implementing and disseminating theoretical and practical knowledge on regional integration and which have the capacity to influence policy and decision-makers in the region. The work made use of qualitative research being guided by the multidisciplinary approach, promoting debate in the area of international relations, sociology and geopolitics. In order to achieve the objectives outlined, a bibliographic review of the processes of integration and regionalism connected to the conceptual framework of epistemic communities in the Latin American and Caribbean context was carried out. In this sense, the discussion was enhanced by the field research that reached 32 semi-structured interviews with academic, political, trade union and diplomatic actors from eight nationalities who made themselves available to answer questions about the meaning of Latin American integration, the history of regionalism, the current scenario and the future of the regional agenda on the continent. Finally, the research sought to illustrate a brief overview of regional governance, as well as to indicate trends and capacities to influence public policies and decision-makers in countries and regional blocks, even as to give visibility to the performance of potential, viable and likely epistemic communities to guide, support and articulate the processes of contemporary integration in Latin America.