contemporary world. the asian regionalism

2. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you can:
1. differentiate regionalism from globalization; and
2. identify factors that lead to a greater integration of Asian regions.
3. Analyze how different Asian states confront the challenges of globalization and
regionalization.

3. China is the home of more than 1.4 billion people based on the 2018
population projection of the United Nations. In fact, it is becoming one of
the economic super giants of the world. After the Second World War,
Japan was able to adapt its policies to the dictates of the West and
consequently incorporated itself to the global economy. On the other
hand, Singapore has become one of the emerging centers of different
cultures and has turned itself into a great cosmopolitan city-state. All these
countries belong to the continent of Asia, a term that originated from the
West, particularly from Ancient Greece.

4. Among all the continents, Asia has the biggest population of at
least two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants. It is most probably
because the continent comprises one-third of the world’s land mass. In
terms of economy, emerging and developing Asian countries and the
Association of Asian Nations 5 or the ASEAN 5 (Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand) had an average of 6.3% and 5.1%
GDP growth, respectively, compared to the world average growth of 3.5%
as of 2016. In 2016, China was the world’s leading exporter of goods
valued at $1.99 trillion, followed by the United States with $1.45 trillion.

5. Since the European Union is in its mature state of regionalism, the
world is now focused on Asia. Most countries want to have
collaborations with East Asian countries and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members because economic and
political growth in these regions have started to shape up.

6. The terms regionalization and globalization are both related
to integration. As defined in Module 1, globalization is the expansion
and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time
and world-space. Regionalization, on the other hand, is “the growth of
societal integration within a region and to the often undirected processes
of social and economic interaction” (Hurrel, 1995). In terms of scope, it is
very clear that globalization is borderless. It happens around the world
while regionalization happens only in a specific geographical region. Social
and economic reciprocal actions of regionalization are undirected because
of diversity. This diversity comes in different levels of development (from
the rich Singapore to the poor Laos), politics (from democracy to
dictatorship and everything in between), economics (from free markets to
capitalism and more), and religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Shintoism, and more).

7. Commonly confused with regionalization, regionalism refers to
regional concentration of economic flows while regionalization refers
to a political process by economic policy if cooperation and
coordination are present among countries. Regionalism also pertains
to the process of intergovernmental collaborations between two or
more states.

8.  Is a new concept among the continental communities. New to
cooperation and collaboration goals, it has the 50-year-old ASEAN
group and the failed East Asia Economic Group

9. 1. Political security community
2. Economic community
3. Socio-cultural community

10. ASEAN has also partnered with three East Asian Countries- China,
Japan, and South Korea. It is called the ASEAN +3.
ASEAN +3 goals:
- To address the 1997 Asian financial crisis and help each other cope
with the crisis.

11. Similar to the goal of ASEAN in achieving greater integration within
the region, other countries form groups for various reasons. The North
America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), free trade pact between
Canada and the United States (now including Mexico), was created to
help reduce trading cost, increase business investment, and help North
America be more competitive in the global marketplace (NAFTA,
2018). On the other hand, the European Union (EU) is a political and
economic established to ensure free movement of people, goods,
services, and capital within the EU’s single market (EU, 2018).

12. 1. Integration has been market-driven.
2. Formal institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were
established.
3. economic grants and overseas development assistance are made available by
better Asian economies.
4. Production networks have expanded.
5. Cooperation among the ASEAN and East Asian countries ensued the ASEAN
+3 Financial Ministers’ Process that established two economic structures- the
Chiang Mai Initiative and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative.
6. If EU is rules-based, ASEAN follows a consensus rule as an approach to
decision making.

13.  Regional alternative as big group, small group, and local
communities.
As a big group, Asian countries established their own Asian
Development Bank (ADB) focused on Asia and Pacific as a reaction
to investments can be a factor to social development. Japan is a
major contribution to ADB. Asians nation work in the form of loan,
grants, and information sharing on topic such as terrorism and
regional security.

14. The aims and Purposes:
1. to accelerate economic growth social progress and cultural development in the
region;
2. to promote regional peace and stability
3. to promote active collaboration on and mutual assistance on matter of common
interests;
4. to provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities.
5. to collaborate effectively for the greater utilization of their agriculture and
industries;
6. to expand trade, improve their transportation and communication facilities
raise the living people.
7. to promote South East Asian Studies;
8. to maintain close and beneficial cooperation.

15. Reaction to globalization (and the West) also are rise to terror groups,
like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which has spread to the
Muslim communities in Southern Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
To combat global terrorism, these countries made use of their available
resources to minimize and ultimately stop the effects on civilian-victims
such as displacement and suffering.

16. In 2017, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia had a trilateral
security meeting wherein they agreed that they need to conduct joint
navy patrols within their boundaries to prevent the entry and exit of
the terror group (Antiporta, 2017).

17. Other reactions to globalization came in the form o disengagement
from globalization that transpired locally. Santi Suk village in Thailand
created its own currency, called the bia, that was regulated by a central
bank in village. This homemade currency can only be used in
participating villages, and cannot be exchanged for Thailand’s baht.
This trend is a manifestation of self-sufficiency movements that
emerged after the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Other forms of
disengagement appeared in the formation of self-sufficiency groups,
community-owned rice mills, and cooperative shops; the gathering of
traditional herbal practitioners; and the preference for local products
(Kimura, 2014).

18.  To conclude, globalization and regionalization are the same
for they refer to integration. Their difference lies on the scope.
Globalization is worldwide, while regionalization focuses on a
specific geographical region.