Donor Funded Alliances Promoting Regional Cooperation

Abstract

There are a significant number of donor funded regional cooperation arrangements across a broad range of thematic areas. However, the level of their success varies considerably, and the literature search carried out for this report did not identify any unqualified successes. Areas of cooperation include defence, environmental issues and economic integration. There is a relatively large body of literature on regional cooperation arrangements funded by donors, however it focuses largely on obstacles rather than successes. The literature search conducted for this research identified no rigorous evaluations of the impact of donor funding on these arrangements and it is therefore difficult to determine the extent of their success, or the role that donor support has played in their achievements. The majority of the literature identified during the course of this research focuses on regional cooperation in Africa, with no successful regional cooperation efforts identified in North Africa. The literature consists of books, peer-reviewed journal articles and policy papers and is largely ‘gender-blind’.