"Regional Organizations in International Society" explores the normative foundations of two of the most important regional cooperation formats in the world - the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU). It revives their history in an in-depth narrative of the protracted arguments surrounding their institutional evolution.
Over the last decade, many politicians and researchers have become disillusioned over the continual disagreement between member states and frequent failures of regional organizations. However, regional organizations were never just instruments designed on the drawing board to address issues that demand transboundary cooperation. They have always been places where different understandings of international order clash. While political actors made normative claims to legitimize their ideas for institutional change, the complex and dynamic nature of international norms also provided the breeding ground for contestation and, sometimes, institutional sclerosis and failure. By investigating these arguments, the book puts the present state of regionalism around the world in a new light.
Reviews:
“The EU and ASEAN represent two of the most important models of regional integration today, and this book’s novel approach exposes the underlying processes of normative contestation that shape their structure and role. An original and outstanding contribution to the literature on Comparative Regionalism, norm dynamics and International Relations theory.” - Amitav Acharya, Distinguished Professor of International Relations, American University
“A fascinating and refreshing account of the divergent development of two of the main regional organizations in today's world. Spandler pushes the theory of international society to new horizons and builds a bridge between Comparative Regionalism and International Relations.” - Thomas Diez, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Tübingen
“With a focus on historical pathways, normative structures and deliberated decisions in post-colonial settings, this study links regional organizations with the global order [...]. The result is a thick account of a differentiated regional and global order which brings together Comparative Regionalism and International Politics. It is a path-breaking study.” - Cornelia Navari, Visiting Professor of International Affairs, University of Buckingham
Read my interview on the book with Evelina Assarsson.
Kilian Spandler: Regional Organizations in International Society. ASEAN, the EU and the Politics of Normative Arguing. Palgrave 2018. ISBN 978-3-391-96896-4. Order your copy here.