ASIAN REGIONALISM

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. differentiate between regionalization and globalization;
2. explain how regions are formed and kept together;
3. discuss the advantages and disadvantages of regionalism; and
4. identify the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.

Regionalism and Regionalization

• Region: a group of countries in the same geographically specified area

• Regionalization: is the “societal integration and the often undirected process of
social and economic interaction
• Regionalism is “the formal process of intergovernmental collaboration between
two or more states. Regionalism is the set of conscious activities carried out by
states within a region to cooperate while regionalization is a less conscious process
which is the outcome of these states policies.
• Globalization: A term used to explain, justify and anticipate the rapid expansion
and intensification of social relations across world time and space (Steger, 2013)
Regions: How They Form
How can places be described or compared? How can the Earth be divided into regions for
study?
A region is an area that includes a number of places--all of which have something in
common. It is an area united by shared characteristics. Geographers categorize regions in two
basic ways: physical and cultural. Physical regions are defined by landform (continents and
mountain ranges), climate, soil, and natural vegetation. Cultural regions are distinguished by
such traits as language, politics, religion, economics, and industry.

Characteristics of Regions:
Physical Regions
Physical regions are units of physical space that are very similar in their natural characteristics.
Characteristics that define physical regions can include landforms, types of vegetation, climate,
or other natural features.

Cultural Regions
Cultural regions are units of physical space defined by people who share cultural traits like
religion, language, identity, or even food preferences.
Economic Regions
Economic regions are those physical spaces determined by economic interactions. In many
countries, border zones are important economic regions where lots of trade occurs. On a larger
scale, many countries around the world have created economic regions called economic blocs;
these are a group of countries that act as a unit when dealing with the global market.
Political Regions
Finally, we can also identify political regions, or spaces that share common ideas about
political ideologies, the reach of laws, or political power. In a large sense, the countries that
share ideas about democracies could be considered a political region of the world of authority.

ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES

In most of the world, such voluntary regionalism has become an important fact of political
life. ... Basically, regionalism from below means that countries in a geographical area cooperate
either for specific purposes or general mutual benefit, especially involving economic
cooperation and peacekeeping.

Gains in Trade
Regionalism encourages cooperation and partnerships. Trade agreements that open borders
allow a country with a particularly strong industry, like wool production, to sell its goods to an
even bigger market outside of the country of origin. This leads to monetary gains for countries
involved, through more profits for the country of origin and through cheaper products for the
importing country.

Economies of Scale
Regional integration agreements expand the market for goods and therefore allow
companies, factories and industries to produce more of their goods and sell it to a bigger
market. This creates something called economies of scale, where the per-unit price of
producing a good decreases as the total quantity of that good's production increases. Fewer
trade barriers also allow increased competition, which in turn causes less-productive companies
within a particular industry to close. This is an overall net positive, because it leads to greater
productivity within an industry, because only the companies that produce a good the most
quickly and efficiently survive amid increased competition.

Limited Fiscal Capabilities

Some regional integration agreements that involve the creation of a common currency --
most notably the European Union's -- lead to fiscal crises. Without regional integration,
individual countries cannot control the supply of their own currency to suit the nation's
economic conditions
Cultural Centralization
While regionalism puts regional community on the map so everyone will know where they
are and, in many ways, who and what we they are, still regional integration has a final non-
economic disadvantage. Especially strong integration -- like the European Union -- can lead to
the loss of unique minority cultures within a region. The European Union has a series of
languages that it deems to be the official languages of the EU government. These do not include
minority languages spoken by remote communities in Europe: Welsh, Breton, Frisian,
Retoromanic, Occitan and others.

World REGIONS/CONTINENTS
7 continents of the world
The widely recognized all the 7 continents are listed by size below, from biggest to smallest.

ASIA includes 50 countries, and it is the most populated continent, the 60% of the total
population of the Earth live here.

AFRICA comprises 54 countries. It is the hottest continent and home of the world's largest
desert, the Sahara, occupying the 25% of the total area of Africa.

NORTH AMERICA includes 23 countries led by the USA as the largest economy in the world.

SOUTH AMERICA comprises 12 countries. Here is located the largest forest, the Amazon
rainforest, which covers 30% of the South America total area.

ANTARCTICA is the coldest continent in the world, completely covered with ice. There are no
permanent inhabitants, except of scientists maintaining research stations in Antarctica.

EUROPE comprises 51 countries. It is the most developed economically continent with the
European Union as the biggest economic and political union in the world.

AUSTRALIA includes 14 countries. It is the least populated continent after Antarctica, only 0.3%
of the total Earth populations live here.
Asia Countries and Regions
Asia can be divided into five geographical sub regions.

Asia is the largest continent in the world in terms of both land area and population. It covers
around 17 million square miles and is home to over four billion individuals. Asia is divided into
48 countries; three of them are trans-continental.

1. Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan)

Central Asia is west of China, south of Russia, and north of Afghanistan. The western border of
this region runs along the Caspian Sea. Given that the name of each of these countries ends in
"-stan," Central Asia is sometimes informally referred to as "The Stans." The region covers a
total area of 1,545,741 square miles and has a population size of just over 69.78 million
individuals. Central Asia played an important role in the transportation of goods between China
and Europe during the Silk Road trading era.

2. East Asia (China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau)
East Asia is located east of Central Asia, with its eastern border running along the East China
Sea. This region covers a total area of 4,571,092 square miles and has a population size of more
than 1.641 billion, which represents 22% of the global population and 38% of Asia's total
population. Many residents of East Asia are concentrated in major metropolitan areas such as
Beijing and Tokyo.

The geography of East Asia is varied depending on the zone. The inner continental area
experiences a temperate climate, while Mongolia is covered by the arid Gobi desert. China, the
largest country in the region, is home to both mountains and plateaus, while Japan is
characterized by thousands of islands and coastlines. Today, East Asia is believed to have some
of the most advanced technologies in the world, which fosters economic development.

3. South Asia (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives)
South Asia has a peninsula-like shape that is bordered by three bodies of water: the Indian
Ocean to the south, the Bay of Bengal to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the west. The region
includes Indian subcontinent and surrounding countries. The region covers a total area of
roughly two million square miles and has a population size of more than 1.74 billion, which is
nearly a quarter of the global population. Additionally, South Asia has the distinction of being
the most densely populated area in the world.

4. Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand, Timor Lester, Vietnam, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands)
Southeast Asia is located north of Australia, south of East Asia, west of the Pacific Ocean, and
east of the Bay of Bengal. It encompasses several island and archipelago nations that stretch
between the northern and southern hemispheres, making it the only Asian region located on
both sides of the equator.
Southeast Asia covers a total area of 1,735,121 square miles and has a population size of
more than 641 million individuals. The geography of Southeast Asia is characterized by a large
number of archipelagos. The Indonesian Archipelago is the biggest in the world and is home to
the largest number of active volcanoes in the world. The region's importance in global trade
began during the spice trade, which started before European exploration. Today, the economy
of Southeast Asia is rapidly developing. Indonesia is considered the largest economy in the
region and is East Asia's only member of the G20.

5. Western Asia (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine,
Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
West Asia is located in the area between Central Asia and Africa, south of Eastern Europe. The
majority of the region is often referred to as the Middle East, although it geographically
excludes the mainland of Egypt (which is culturally considered a Middle Eastern country). The
region covers a total area of around 2.415 million square miles and has a population size of
313.428 million.
A large area of the region is covered by an arid desert environment. However, West Asia
does have several points of access to large bodies of water, including the Black Sea, Persian
Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea.

FACTORS LEADING TO GREATER INTEGRATION OF THE ASIAN REGION:

The entire world is moving towards integration, it is inevitable. But a regional partnership is
the first step, we can see this in the EUROPEAN UNION, AFRICAN UNION, UNION OF SOUTH
AMERICAN NATIONS, and there is more on the way. In Asia, the Southeast Asian countries have
already formed ASEAN (ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS. This regional power
block appears to work fine, the member states fit very well together because of the following
factors:
1. Mutual benefit - when it comes to trade, these nations can readily supply each other’s
needs.
2. Mutual goals
3. Similar culture - the people of this region are generally alike in appearance, temperament
which is seemingly peaceful. They tend to get along quite well even on an individual level.
4. Similar security needs - aside from small localized rebels, this association needs only to
contend with foreign-supported terrorist groups which are usually handled well.
 The Asian region extends beyond the territories of the ASEAN member nations. The northern
Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, and South Korea do not get along and appears
to distrust each other. Of course the invisible walls between these nations will fall someday,
and hopefully, they will realize the benefit of integration with regional AUTO

References:
Chapter 13 of textbook:” Globalization and the Asia Pacific and South Asia” by Ehito Kimura
Shiraishi, Takashi 2006 “The Third Wave: Southeast Asia and Middle Class Formation in the
Making of a Region” in Beyond Japan: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism, ed Peter
Katzenstein and Takashi Shiraishi. Ithaca. NY: Cornell University Press, pp. 237-71
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Midterm Performance Task 1

REGIONALISM at HOME
Examine areas in your home. Is there an upstairs and a downstairs? Is there an eating area and
a sleeping area? How are they like regions? Are there other ``regions'' in your home that can be
described?

Instructions:
1. Identify 3 areas in your house (for examples: dining area, sleeping area, recreational area,
parking area, etc.)
2. List down things that can be found in that area
3. What do you think is the reason/s why these things are being put together in that particular
area?
4. In relation to regionalism, what do you think are the factors that countries are formed into
regions? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Notes:
9
1. The Midterm Performance Task 1 must be computerized in maximum of 2 short bond
papers, stapled, font is 12, aerial, and single space.
2. This task must be sent to the teacher through the canvass and also, you must submit a hard
copy of this to the teacher during the next meeting inside the classroom
3. Strict reminder? CHEATING OF TASK IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
4. The teacher may or may not call 3 – 5 students to share their task to the whole class for
graded recitation.