Re-Evaluating Regional Organizations

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Introduction

   • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

   Pages 1-6

3. Regional Organizations: An Analytical Framework

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7

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   2. Typology of Regional Organizations

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 9-41

   3. Historical Factors

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 43-53

   4. Economic Development and Crises

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 55-66

   5. Power Asymmetries

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 67-76

   6. Political Regime

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 77-90

4. The Universe of Regional Integration Organizations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

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   2. Determinants of RO Type: Large-N Evidence

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 93-117

   3. ‘Straight Path’ Alive and Kicking Regional Organizations

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 119-138

   4. Alternative Path: A Regional Organization’s Rebirth

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 139-155

   5. Integration Rhetoric

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 157-173

   6. Talking Club

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 175-189

   7. Zombies and Coma

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 191-209

   8. Dissolution of Regional Organizations

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 211-222

   9. Conclusions

      • Evgeny Vinokurov, Alexander Libman

      Pages 223-228

5. Back Matter

   Pages 229-281

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This book re-evaluates the regional organizations landscape and discusses how organizations with similar mandates can exercise strikingly different goals. Even economic organizations, which do not produce any outcomes in terms of economic cooperation, can be valuable for their members or individual stakeholders. The book’s argument is supported by a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. It employs a novel dataset of 60 regional organizations to establish correlations between members’ goals and their characteristics. More than a dozen case studies in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and post-Soviet Eurasia illustrate the theoretic arguments of how particular types of regional organizations come into existence and evolve. Finally, the book examines the remarkable resilience of regional organizations and considers the conditions under which the stakeholders are willing to abandon support.

• organisations
• ROs
• regional economics
• economic cooperation
• Mercosur
• South African Customs Union
• Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
• Economic Community of West African States
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations

“This book represents a highly detailed accounting of regional integration around the world. The authors ask important questions regarding regional organizations' goal setting and persistence. The reader is treated to an excellent review of theory and meticulous testing of hypotheses. The data-driven conclusions strongly add to our understanding of state cooperation.” (Professor Gaspare Genna, University of Texas at El Paso, U.S.A.)

“Vinokurov and Libman provide an invaluable comparative analysis of the proliferating jumble of regional economic organizations around the globe. Combining theory with qualitative and quantitative data, the authors offer a thorough guidebook to one of the most important developments in international political economy and regionalism.” (Professor Harley Balzer, Georgetown University, U.S.A.)

• Centre for Integration Studies, Eurasian Development Bank, St. Petersburg, Russia

  Evgeny Vinokurov

• Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany

  Alexander Libman

Dr. Evgeny Vinokurov is the Director of the Centre for Integration Studies at the Eurasian Development Bank, St. Petersburg, Russia. He has collaborated with various international organizations, including the UN, UNDP, UNESCAP, EU, ASEAN, CIS, EAEU, World Bank, EBRD, ADB, and IDB.


Prof. Dr. Alexander Libman is a Professor at Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich. He is also Associate Research Fellow at the International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow), and Associate Research Fellow at the Center for Russian Studies of the East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

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