Master
2025/2026
Comparative Regionalism: Institutions and Cooperation in Asia
Type:
Elective course (Cross-Cultural Studies of Asia and Africa in the Context of International Relations)
When:
1 year, 2, 3 module
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
48
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course examines regional dynamics in Asia, focusing on institutional frameworks and cooperation mechanisms. It explores how key Asian states—China, Japan, and South Korea—balance national sovereignty with regional integration, while addressing issues such as membership, commitments, and interdependencies. Students will analyze prominent regional organizations, including ASEAN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), APEC, and SAARC, and assess their roles in shaping regional orders and governance structures.
The course also delves into these states' engagement with international organizations, both within and beyond the United Nations system. It examines their contributions to global governance in areas such as security, development assistance, human rights, migration, health, and environmental protection. Through theoretical insights and case studies, students will explore how Asian states interact with universal and specialized institutions to address transnational challenges and advance regional interests.
By the end of the course, students will gain the analytical tools needed to compare regional governance mechanisms and evaluate their impact on critical issues like trade, security, migration, and sustainability. This foundation will enable them to critically assess Asia’s role in global governance and its evolving influence on international relations.
Learning Objectives
- The course is tailored for students majoring in “Cross-Cultural Studies of Asia and Africa in the Context of International Relations”, and is mandatory for students in both trajectories of the above-mentioned program. The aim of the course is to equip students with a deep understanding of the specific features, dynamics, and institutional foundations of regional cooperation and integration in Asia. The course provides a comparative analysis of key regional organizations (such as ASEAN, SCO, SAARC, EAEU, APEC, etc.), their evolution, structures, functions, and role within the international relations system. Particular emphasis is placed on examining factors that facilitate or hinder deeper cooperation, as well as comparing Asian models of regionalism with experiences from other world regions (including Africa and Europe) within the context of global political and economic processes.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Distinguish between core concepts: region, regionalism, regionalization, regional order;
- Compare approaches to defining regions: essentialism, interactionism, institutionalism, reflectivism;
- Evaluate "regionness" and "actorness" levels in Asian/African case studies (e.g., ASEAN, AU);
- Apply IR theories (neorealism, liberalism, constructivism) to analyze regional integration dynamics;
- Critique Eurocentric theoretical limitations in Asian/African contexts (e.g., "new regionalism" debates);
- Analyze the impact of extra-regional actors (US, China, EU, World Bank) on region-building;
- Explain unique regional models;
- Contrast institutional designs of key organizations (ASEAN vs. SCO vs. GCC vs. SAARC);
- Assess how power asymmetry and sovereignty concerns shape institutional design (e.g., ASEAN’s consensus model);
- Predict the sustainability of "ASEAN Centrality" amid US-China rivalry;
- Propose solutions to institutional fragmentation (e.g., via minilateral models like CPTPP/EAS);
- Compare security governance models;
- Design strategies to amplify Asian/African agency in global institutions (e.g., AIIB, BRICS+, G20 reforms).
Course Contents
- Block 1. Introduction
- Block 2. Theoretical and conceptual approaches to regions and regionalism.
- Block 3. Regional orders in Asia
- Block 4. Regional institutions
- Block 5. Regional governance
- Block 6. Asian regions in global governance architecture
Assessment Elements
- In-class ParticipationLecturer evaluates students’ progress, including comprehension of lecture materials and assigned readings, as well as contribution to discussions. The component is calculated as an average grade achieved on all seminars.
- Tests on compulsory literatureStudents have to take two tests that check their acquisition of compulsory literature (during seminar 5 and seminar 10). Test on seminar 5 checks acquisition of compulsory literature assigned for seminars 1-5, test on seminar 10 checks acquisition of compulsory literature assigned for seminars 6-10. Tests consist of 10 questions of different formats: multiple choice, filling in the gap, open-ended question. The response time is 10 minutes.
- ExamThe exam is a test consisting of 30 questions of different formats: multiple choice, filling in the gap, open-ended question. The response time is 60 minutes. Exam questions are based on materials from lectures and seminars.
Interim Assessment
- 2025/2026 3rd module0.4 * Exam + 0.3 * In-class Participation + 0.3 * Tests on compulsory literature
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- ACHARYA, A. (2011). Can Asia lead? Power ambitions and global governance in the twenty-first century. International Affairs, 87(4), 851–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2011.01007.x
- Anastassia V. Obydenkova, & Alexander Libman. (2019). Authoritarian Regionalism in the World of International Organizations : Global Perspective and the Eurasian Enigma. OUP Oxford.
- Collins, K. (2009). Economic and Security Regionalism among Patrimonial Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Central Asia. Europe-Asia Studies, 61(2), 249–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130802630854
- Fawcett, L. (2004). Exploring Regional Domains: A Comparative History of Regionalism. International Affairs, 80(3), 429–446. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2004.00391.x
- Gunter Schubert, Franziska Plümmer, & Anastasiya Bayok. (2020). Immigration Governance in East Asia : Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity, Citizenship. Routledge.
- Stubbs, R., & Beeson, M. (2012). Routledge Handbook of Asian Regionalism. Routledge.
- Tanja A. Börzel, & Thomas Risse. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. OUP Oxford.
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Acharya, A. (1999). Imagined Proximities: The Making and Unmaking of Southeast Asia as a Region. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 27(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.1163/030382499X00192
- Buzan, B., & Wæver, O. (2003). Regions and Powers : The Structure of International Security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=125090