Universalism versus Regionalism in International Organization

Abstract

One of the issues likely to become more acute than many others as we move into the period of post-war international reorganization in the next few months is that of regionalism versus universalism. This is the conflict between the view that international organization should proceed upon a regional basis—leaving definition of the proper region or regions aside for the moment—and the view that it should proceed upon a world-wide basis. The partisans of these two views are vigorous in their support, and the problem in itself is extremely important from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint. It has so far not received anything like the attention it deserves.The problem is, of course, not unknown in the national and local spheres of government. Here it is formulated as the question of the proper area of government, or even the ideal size of the state, and this slightly different formulation carries its own implication concerning the treatment of the problem. The issue also arises on the border-line between national and international political problems when the formation of federal unions is under consideration, together with the question of the proper allocation of powers to the central government. We shall later draw upon experience in all of these matters for aid in solving our own problem.