Regional intergovernmental organizations and macropolitical boundary work

Abstract Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has thrown into the spotlight the significance of where and how regional intergovernmental organizations (RIOs) such as the European Union draw their macropolitical boundaries. This article develops the notion of macropolitical boundaries to synthesize extant literatures on RIOs and their external relations, and presents a conceptual framework to study how different types of macropolitical boundaries are (re)made through the practices of RIOs and non-member states. The article identifies three dimensions of variation in macropolitical boundaries that result from such boundary work: 1) malleability; 2) stratification; and 3) modality (where the boundary is constituted through bilateral or multilateral relations). Subsequently, it theorizes how the malleability, stratification and modality of macropolitical boundaries enable or inhibit the influence of RIOs on conflicts between member and non-member states and shape the relations between the conflict parties. The article illustrates these effects in two cases: the EU's impact on the Cyprus conflict and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' impact on the South China Sea conflict. The article offers policy recommendations as to how RIOs can contribute to the amelioration of such conflicts between member and non-member states, or at least avoid their aggravation.