The global and regional governance dilemma

Abstract

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s there has been an exponential growth of various forms of regional cooperation throughout the world, mainly in the so-called “global south”. The proliferation of regional cooperation processes has opened a debate about whether regionalism threatens or complements existing global arrangements. Some scholars have questioned whether regional governance can collaborate with global governance so that it increases benefits and decreases risks. For that reason, identifying potential links between regional and global governance could provide solutions to find a middle ground that can positively impact their relationship.There are different approaches that could be used to describe the relationship between regional and global governances. In this article, I will be focusing on two approaches. I intend to demonstrate that, even if there are some risks and challenges in finding a common ground between regional and global governance, regionalism has become an important element for global governance. This article is organized as follow: first, I will present a brief theoretical analysis about the definition of governance at the global and regional level. Next, I will discuss two approaches that show the relationship between global and regional governance, and finally, I will present some reflections about the challenges currently faced in the world that involves global and regional governance.