Europe from a Global Perspective

What are the factors founding the specificity and the singularity of European Integration? To what extent does the European experience shed light on regionalization patterns observed in other parts of the world, and vice-versa? In order to be properly assessed, regionalization processes need to be contextualized. By this we mean that the spatial, temporal and cultural dimensions shaping the political interests, meanings and behavioral investments in regionalization are at the core of their understanding. The following pages develop the implications of this claim in the perspective formalized in particular by Charles Tilly and Robert Goodin. Variations in regional institutions across continents largely stems from the impact of local circumstances. What are these contextual effects and how do they operate? This what we try to clarify in the European case. Effects of location and temporality jointly combine to explain in this perspective the unicity and singularity of regional integration in Europe.