II. Varieties of National axd International Regionalism 



.Vn obstacle to clarity of discussion about the Mekong Project, or 

 about regionalism generally, is that it carries so mam' different mean- 

 ings. Jn the chapter to follow, some of the varieties of regionalism are 

 identified; these are all involved to some extent in one or another of 

 the spectrum of attitudes toward the Mekong Project. The term 

 "Region'' is itself a kind of omnibus word involving variously the 

 idea of. — 



An area defined by "one or more physical characteristics, such as 

 rainfall, length of growing season, character of soil, vegetation, 

 contours, and similar features*': 



An area characterized by the "prevalence of one or more cultural 

 characteristics — such as language or dialect, costume, form of 

 social organization, type of architecture, use of given tools, ac- 

 ceptance of a given religion, practice of certain social cus- 

 toms . . ."; 



An area set off from other areas "by barriers of various sorts 

 ! tich as] mountains, deserts, rivers, lakes, and oceans . . ."; 



An area within which the component parts are in a condition of 

 interdependence in some important respect or respects; an ex- 

 ample is a trade area, "delineated by the network of economic 

 interconnections that holds it together . . ."; and 



An ana in which some problem or collection of problems is shared, 

 and planning to deal with them comprehensively takes on a 

 "regional planning" or "regional administration'' character. 



Accordingly, ". . . In the concept of region we are not dealing with 

 a single and unambiguous idea, but rather with a variety of notions 

 and approaches.'' Therefore. "To use the regional concept as if it were 

 one clear and univocal term is to make for misunderstandings and con- 

 fusion rather than clarity.*' '- The varieties of regionalism suggested 

 in this source are primarily intranational. They include the geophysi- 

 cal (e.g., the Rocky Mountain region), the cultural (e.g.. the "Old 

 Soul h."), the physiographically separate (e.g., Hawaii or Alaska), the 

 economically interdependent (e.g.. the Pittsburgh iron and steel 

 region), and the area whose components share a common problem or 

 opportunity (e.g.. the Tennessee Valley region, the St. Lawrence Sea- 

 way and its served area, Appalachia, Four Corners, etc.). 



Regionalism in the United States has followed one or another of 

 these patterns. But when the effort was made to apply the general con- 

 cepl of "Regionalism" to groups of nations abroad, many other crite- 

 ria came into play. International regionalism involves the interaction 



12 1 is Wlrth, "Limitations of Regionalism." In: Merrill Jensen ed., Regionalism in 



Imeri </ • Papers of Symposium on American Regionalism (Madison, Wise: university of 

 In Press, 1965), pp. 381 386. 



(372) 



