How do you identify yourself when you meet someone? After introducing yourself by name, do you continue by saying where you are from? For example, in a Vancouver context, would you say that you are from Canada or the Pacific Northwest? This paper investigates the degree of global politics influenced by regional institutions more than national alliances and entities. This paper will argue that to a large extent the world is transitioning from a nation based world to a regional world using three examples: Catalonia, the Arctic and the European Union.
Regionalism consists of the idea that politics are conceived in regional rather than national terms. Catalonia is an example of growing regionalism as a sub-state region in Spain. Catalonia is …show more content…
The Arctic is an example of the making of a new region comprising of five countries including, the US, Canada, Norway, Russia and Denmark (Greenland)” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 67). This raises the questions of where does the domestic Arctic stop and the international Arctic start? Is the spatial unit more influential as a region or as individual countries? The Arctic region can be seen as the making of a new region because it was arguably not relevant 25 years ago as over time the warming Arctic has uncovered “enormous natural wealth of the region” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 74). In fact, the “North accounts for 20% of Russian GDP” exemplifying the significance of natural resources that are key actors in the economy (Rowe and Blakkisrud 68). The “Arctic produces about 1/10th of the world’s crude oil and a quarter of its gas. Of this, 80% of the oil and 99% of the gas come from Russia” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 69). Since the Arctic includes a diversity of nation-states and resources it was vital to establish the Arctic Council in 1996 in order to mediate and ensure fluid international relations between states in this geopolitical region. Essentially, the example of the Arctic is significant because there is a unique interdependence between the members of the Arctic five who are mutually dependent on each other for the success of the …show more content…
Borders are limiting, as they do not allow cultural fluidity and suffocate those in minority groups. We can view borders as nation separators that are human made political dividers, which is not an effective or practical way to conduct foreign affairs in the reformed geopolitical regions (Van Houtem 673-675). Essentially, this paper argues that people will transition to introduce themselves in a regional context over national
Regionalism consists of the idea that politics are conceived in regional rather than national terms. Catalonia is an example of growing regionalism as a sub-state region in Spain. Catalonia is …show more content…
The Arctic is an example of the making of a new region comprising of five countries including, the US, Canada, Norway, Russia and Denmark (Greenland)” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 67). This raises the questions of where does the domestic Arctic stop and the international Arctic start? Is the spatial unit more influential as a region or as individual countries? The Arctic region can be seen as the making of a new region because it was arguably not relevant 25 years ago as over time the warming Arctic has uncovered “enormous natural wealth of the region” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 74). In fact, the “North accounts for 20% of Russian GDP” exemplifying the significance of natural resources that are key actors in the economy (Rowe and Blakkisrud 68). The “Arctic produces about 1/10th of the world’s crude oil and a quarter of its gas. Of this, 80% of the oil and 99% of the gas come from Russia” (Rowe and Blakkisrud 69). Since the Arctic includes a diversity of nation-states and resources it was vital to establish the Arctic Council in 1996 in order to mediate and ensure fluid international relations between states in this geopolitical region. Essentially, the example of the Arctic is significant because there is a unique interdependence between the members of the Arctic five who are mutually dependent on each other for the success of the …show more content…
Borders are limiting, as they do not allow cultural fluidity and suffocate those in minority groups. We can view borders as nation separators that are human made political dividers, which is not an effective or practical way to conduct foreign affairs in the reformed geopolitical regions (Van Houtem 673-675). Essentially, this paper argues that people will transition to introduce themselves in a regional context over national