This course begins by highlighting the key concepts behind the theories of both regionalism and governance.  It then goes back in time to look at earlier models of regional integration in Asia and compare them with other regional organisations.  In moving into the present, the role of organisations such as ASEAN and APEC as well as ASEAN+1 and ASEAN+3 are explored, before looking at the role of key actors as well as extra-regional and sub-regional processes in Asia.  This course will provide the intellectual space for students to discover for themselves how regional politics may operate and to consider challenges to real-world problems.

Course Aims:

This course aims to develop students’ understanding of governance and integration processes in the region. East Asia is coming together.  Since the late 1990s there has been a dramatic upsurge in both the scope and depth of regional integration activities being undertaken in both Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia as well as between these two regions.  But how and why is this happening?  This course is designed to expose students to contemporary processes of regionalism and governance within Asia.  It does so through a combination of lectures intended to expose students to the rapid developments in regional institutions and other mechanisms (the ‘how’) as well as the changing ideals and norms that underpin these developments (the ‘why’).