The grammars of globalisation and the languages of regionalism: The war in Ukraine as a milestone and a test

Abstract

The article reviews transformations observed in the post-soviet space and raises the question of their implications for students of comparative regionalisms. It is first argued that such a discussion deserves to be more systematically related to that of the shifting ‘grammars’ of globalization. Unlike what was the case in the 1990s, globalization refers today to a fragmented, multipolar, yet globalized, world. Interdependency is perceived as a source of insecurity and strategic vulnerability. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the article also stresses, a pillar of post-colonial and post-imperial international relations, uti possidetis, is also being tested and contested. Interactions with the diversity, or ‘languages,’ of regionalisms are then addressed through the identification of five distinctive threads: colonial and imperial legacies; regionalism as sovereignty or regime enhancement; the EU as a model of holistic and developmental integration; regionalization through defragmentation and connectivity; and regionalization without region-building. The article concludes to the resilience of debates and cognitive representations that were discarded in the aftermath of the cold war.

Keywords

Belt and road initiative globalisation post-soviet space regionalism and regionalisation Russia Ukraine Africa

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