BÖLGESEL ÖRGÜTLER - Deneme Sınavı - 18

Regionalism has three displays in the UN system: regional economic commissions (linked to the Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC), regional electoral groupings (linked to the General Assembly and the Security Council), and cooperation with the regional arrangements
or agencies. All three statements are correct.

There were three changes made at the San Francisco Conference regarding the regional groupings or agencies. First, a provision stressing the desirability of using regional arrangements and agencies for the peaceful settlement was inserted. Second, the requirement of Security Council authorization for enforcement action under regional arrangement were waived in the case of measures taken against an enemy state under Article 107 of the Charter or under “regional arrangements directed against the renewal of aggressive policy” by any such state. Third, by the terms of Article 51 of the Charter, “the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations” was safeguarded. All three statements are correct.

Latin American and Middle Eastern states had concluded treaties in 1930s creating regional arrangements by the Act of Chapultepec and the Arab League respectively. yalta Conference included European nations.

(a) To expand consultation and cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations through formalized agreements between the respective secretariats and, as appropriate, involvement of regional organizations in the work of the Security Council;
(b) To ensure that regional organizations that have a capacity for the prevention of armed conflict or peacekeeping consider the option of placing such capacity in the framework of the United Nations Standby Arrangements System;
(c) To strengthen cooperation in the economic, social and cultural fields.

There are also a few states that did not belong to any group. South Africa was accepted into the GAFS after the apartheid regime ended.

Although there are some small differences, principal functions and purposes of the commissions are as follows:

-to initiate and participate in measures for facilitating regional economic development,

- raise the level of economic activity in the
respective region,

- maintain and strengthen economic relationships among the states of the region and with other states,

- to investigate and study economic and technological problems and developments,

- to collect, evaluate and disseminate economic, technological and statistical information

Benin, Mali, Senegal and Liberia are members of ECOWAS and they were present in the commision in Liberia. Angola is not a member. The correct answer is E.

Peacekeeping operations involving military troops were started by the UN’s General Assembly in 1956 and taken over by the Security Council later. Regional organizations’ participation came much later in 1990s. There is a growing cooperation between the UN and regional organizations since then, but it is still a new phenomenon, and the peacekeeping operation in Syria is called UNDOF.

All regional commissions support the regional cooperation in different areas, but there are differences in terms of intensity and the direction of this support. ECLAC has proved to be the most effective of the commissions. It was established in 1948 and developed the ‘Latin American structuralism’ theory as an answer to the region’s need of economic development and social growth.

Regionalism “Political will to create a formal arrangement among states on a geographically restricted basis. Since its main participants are governments, it can be expressed as an artificial, top-down process.”

As it is the case with all the actors of global politics, regional organizations change according to the Zeitgeist (spirit of time) as well.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was established as a response to the European Union.

NAFTA member states are the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Old Regionalism: A type of regionalism in which states play the most important role. According to this approach, regions are considered to be fixed structures. In the old regionalism approach states are supposed to play the biggest role in the regional formations. It is the states, their leaders and their actions that determined the regional structures. Regions are considered to be fixed entities.

New Regionalism: According to this approach, Multiple actors, like states, business communities and non-governmental organizations play the fundamental role in the establishment of regions. Regions are considered as not fixed, but constructed entities.

Ernst Haas defines integration as follows: "distinct national settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations and political activities toward a new and larger center, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the preexisting national states.”

Diffusion: Affect of an organization on institutional structure or decision making mechanism of another organization. 

Diffusion can be defined as the impact of an organization on other organizations. It can be through various actors and instruments. In order to be able to talk about diffusion, first of all, there must be a stimulus, an organization to be taken as a model. Second, there must be an issue or a problem. The actors involved would like to learn from the policies of the organization that they consider to be the stimulus.

Shallow versus institutional regionalism is another way of classifying different regionalisms. Shallow regionalism represents a kind of regionalism that is based on cooperation among states.

In the closed regionalism, regional organizations try to protect themselves from the competition stemming from outside. Founding actors try to protect their borders against the competition from third parties.

International organizations are international legal persons which are established by an international agreement duly signed and put into effect by the governmental bodies of at least three States.