Regionalism, Geography, and the International Legal Imagination

Despite international law's identity as focused on spatial relations, it has long been dominated by a temporal, narrative imagination. This article argues for an increased spatial conception of international law, but one that is also culturally and temporally enriched. It begins with a section called "Regionalism without the Region," which describes how efforts at emphasizing the region in international law are often empty of regional content-that is, of true locality. Then, in a section on "GlobaliZation without the Globe," the article describes how globaliZation studies have focused on globaliZation as a process-that is, on the "ization" rather than the "globe" and, consequently, the real geographical impact.

Finally, in a section entitled, 'Westphalia without the West," the article takes on the Westphalian myth and suggests that the Westphalian state system was never fully in place and if so only for the briefest of moments-even in its supposed epicenter. In sum, international law has adopted so strong a narrative mode that it is ultimately more interested in mapping than maps, losing sight of geographical specificity.