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Draws on the New Regionalism Approach (NRA) to analyze the political economy of the new regionalism in southern Africa in the post-Cold War & postapartheid era. The NRA challenges much of conventional wisdom in the field, which is seen as narrowly focused on intergovernmental regional organizations & intraregional trade. The analysis identifies four main types of regionalism in southern Africa, which to a large extent occur within the larger context of economic globalization, neoliberalism, & the retreat of the state: (1) open regionalism, (2) microregionalism, (3) private firms led regionalism, & (4) informal regionalism from below. Both open regionalism & microregionalism (as built around the concept of spatial development initiatives) seek to reinforce economic globalization & market integration, & attract foreign direct investment to bankable private investment projects. Together with the firms driven regionalism, which is constructed by & around large South African business enterprises, these three types of regionalism sustain a particular pattern of elite driven regionalism centered on economic growth, trade, & capital intensive projects in the formal economy, with little focus on development & poverty reduction. To a large extent, the myriad of activities included in informal regionalism from below emerges as a consequence of the negative & exclusionary effects of neoliberalism & the three types of elite driven regionalism. 47 References. Adapted from the source document.