Most freshwater and marine systems are transboundary in nature and therefore depend on sound regionalism and regional governance. The way these transboundary water systems are governed and managed is of vital importance for economic and social development, food security, biodiversity conservation, and the sustainable use and maintenance of ecosystem services. Yet there is little systematic knowledge about how transboundary water management systems are affected by regionalism and regional organizations. This STAP Publication on The Political Economy of Regionalism provides the context and analytical tools needed to understand contemporary regionalism and regional organizations from a global and political economy perspective. It reports on the results of an extensive desk-study of the GEF International Waters (IW) portfolio to assess each project’s relation to regional cooperation and the extent to which it met its design objectives. It concludes with recommendations to the GEF to 1) engage more fully with stakeholders to synchronize national and regional concerns, incentives and benefits, 2) assess what regional institutional frameworks are most effective for delivering GEBs, and 3) to consider more fully the regional and economic context, including the logic of recipient country-led regional organizations, during the design of IW interventions and projects. Publication Date: April 2014 Authors: Fredrik Söderbaum, Jakob Granit.
