Cross-border cooperation: a global overview

Abstract

This article is a review of regional cross-border coordination and cooperation around the world. Two questions are raised: when trade dominates, does economic or functional interdependency result in cross-border linkages? Second, when politics and institutions mediate cross-border relations, do economic relations intensify? Specifically, do local–central networks of government actors and institutions mediate such processes when they emerge? To investigate those two questions, this work focuses on cross-border relations in various parts of the world primarily focusing of the role trading relations or local–central relations would play in developing cross-border networks spanning an international boundary. In an era of globalisation, increased trade across regions of the world seem to have led to a specific increased cross-border cooperation, however, taking different forms from intense trading relations to resulting cross-border institutionalisation. Those forms of cross-border cooperation in the various regions of the world, however, do not result from the same drivers: For the purpose of a comparative analysis of cross-border relations, the argument developed here is that regional drivers determine types of relations from no relations to intense trading and government-like forms of cooperation. However, in most cases as suggested below, the prime drivers of cross-border relations, trade, do not necessarily translate into increased border spanning governmental activism, and government cross-border institutionalisation does not necessarily transmute into increased economic integration.

Territorial Cooperation and Cross-Border Development: The Portuguese Dynamics

“…In this context, cross-border cooperation has become an essential aspect of territorial cooperation that takes place between regions or cities located on either side of a border. The primary goal of cross-border cooperation is to address common challenges that transcend national boundaries, such as environmental protection, cultural exchange, or economic development (Brunet-Jailly 2022).…”

La formación de las regiones transfronterizas: la experiencia latinoamericana

“…Esto nos lleva a una propuesta de relación epistemológica diferente en que nuestros procesos de regionalización transfronteriza puedan ser asumidos como particularidades determinadas por las características sociohistóricas de nuestras sociedades y los bordes múltiples en que se desenvuelven. Y desde ahí establecer una relación dialógica más provechosa con otros referentes que incluyen a los dos paradigmas antes mencionados, pero también con los incipientes estudios que tienen lugar sobre diferentes manifestaciones de relaciones transfronterizas en África y Asia (Brunett-Jailly, 2022).…”

Potential for Economic Transition and Key Directions of Cross-Border Cooperation between Primorsky Krai (Russia) and Jilin (China)

“…Cross-border cooperation is recognized as being helpful to develop border regions' economy [3,4], with the principle of equal resources, responsibilities, risks, and benefits [5]. Brunet-Jailly (2022) provided an overview of cross-border coordination and cooperation across global continents [6], arguing that regional drivers determine the type of this relationship. Kurowska-Pysz (2017) provided a comparative analysis of the Polish-Lithuanian border and assessed the sustainability factors in Czech-Polish crossborder cooperation [7].…”