REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 518, S. 132-142

Abstract

THE END OF COLONIALISM AND THE DECLINE OF COLD WAR BIPOLARITY MEAN THAT THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION MUST FIND NEW WAYS OF RELATING TO A THIRD WORLD THAT IS GROWING INCREASINGLY INFLUENTIAL AND IS SEEKING WAYS TO BE THE MASTER OF ITS OWN DESTINY. THERE HAS BEEN A MARKED GROWTH IN REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE THIRD WORLD DESIGNED TO DEAL WITH THE RELATED PROBLEMS OF SOLVING INTERNAL DISPUTES AND REDUCING THE ROLE OF OUTSIDE POWERS IN REGIONAL AFFAIRS. THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE MIXED RECORDS, AND SOME COULD POSE THREATS TO BROADER GLOBAL INTERESTS, INCLUDING THOSE OF THE USA AND THE USSR. NONETHELESS, THE TREND TOWARD REGIONALIZATION IS PERVASIVE, AND IN MANY CASES REGIONAL GROUPINGS CAN DEAL WITH PROBLEMS THAT THE SUPERPOWERS NO LONGER CAN OR WANT TO HANDLE. MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON MUST JUDGE EACH CASE ON ITS OWN MERITS, BUT THEIR GENERAL APPROACH SHOULD BE TO LET REGIONAL GROUPINGS CARRY AS MUCH OF THE BURDEN AS POSSIBLE.