GLOBALISATION AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUILDING UP INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN EUROPE AND EAST ASIA

The analysis of the contemporary phase of internationalisation of the developed economies implies an assessment of the main features of the diverse processes of regional integration, even if the specificity of each of these processes seems to hamper their categorization. To begin with we propose to identify two ideal types of regional dynamics accounting altogether for the economic, political and social dimensions of the processes. In each case we try to specify the respective position of the countries and the internal dynamics concurring to either convergence or divergence of these positions in terms of development. We then investigate how the interactions with the external world tend to lead to hybrid forms of regions, constituting finally the heterogeneous fabrics of international relations.