Regional security governance

This chapter examines the concept and realities of regional security governance (RSG), focusing on three major questions regarding its research agenda: its emergence, institutional design, and effects. These questions are addressed with reference to the proliferation of regional security organizations across the globe, whereas the time framework focuses on the contemporary period since the end of the Cold War. Across all regions RSG mechanisms have maintained over time their traditional security core, while gradually expanding to include also a widening concept of security. However, while new issues and mechanisms of security governance have evolved, they either build upon or significantly interact with preexisting intergovernmental competition and cooperation structures. The authors find impressive evidence for the lingering relevance of regional mechanisms of governance based on the actions of states.