Funding: Innovationsfonds Forschung, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg  

Period of Funding: August 2013 - April 2014 

Project Leadership: Prof. Dr. Diana Panke 

Student Assistants: Alena Hahn, Thomas Krebs, Anna Lena Mohrmann

Abstract:  

Countries work together in Regional Organizations (ROs) in almost all geographical parts of the world. Many of the 30 or so ROs are also active outside their geographical borders. However, there are no comparative studies that examine whether and to what extent this leads to a regionalization of international politics over time. The project takes a first step by examining the conditions under which the various ROs can influence international relations in the first place. It analyzes how these have developed over time and across policy fields. Is there a synchronous increase in the competence and capacity of external policies of ROs? Are some ROs more oriented towards external action than others? Are there external policies in which ROs are particularly prominent, while they tend to be silent observers in other areas?