THE TURKISH PROJECT OF GLOBALIZATION AND NEW REGIONALISM*

The world is simultaneously globalizing and regionalizing. The double processes of globalization and regionalization appear to be paradoxical. This seemingly paradoxical phenomenon has raised the question of whether regionalism contradicts or complements globalization and whether it obstructs or reinforces globalization. The paradox of the resurgence of regionalism amidst globalization has attracted considerable scholarly attention. In the literature on regionalism and globalization, one can identify three main perspectives on how regionalism relates to globalization. First, there is the view of regionalism as a project of resisting globalization. This view popularly articulates regionalism as a “stumbling block ” to globalization. Regionalism is a project driven by the desire of governments and domestic private interests to defend national economic and social institutions and policy instruments against the homogenizing forces of accelerated globalization through regional-level cooperation. Defensive or resistance regionalism may also be an attempt by governments to counter the negative effects of globalization, such as greater inequality and environmental degradation, through collective action on a regional scale. The second perspective conceptualizes regionalism as complementary to globalization. In this view, regionalist schemes are “stepping stones ” or “building blocks ” to economic globalization. They seek to facilitate better or more advantageous engagement of member countries with the processes of globalization. They serve as a platform that enables member economies to participate in the growing global flows of trade, finance and FDI as well as to improve their competitiveness in markets outside the respective region. Thus regionalism promotes or facilitates rather than obstructs globalization. One can identify a third, though less influential, perspective in the literature while the main debate has been between the firs