Assessing the Obstacles to Regional Integration for Development, Governance and Diplomacy: A Comparative Analysis of The SAARC and The European Union

Abstract

This research paper sprang up out of the analytical discourse on the impediments to regional integration, confronted by the EU and the SAARC. The EU, since its inception, has been under the shadow of more dreaded challenges in contrast with the SAARC’s. Thus, anchored to the qualitative document analysis (QDA), this research paper discovers a multi-pronged finding. Firstly, despite the menaces of right wing extremism, historical rifts among the states and the unprecedented Ukraine War are making inroads in the march to regional integration, the EU has weathered the storm masterly by virtue of bilateral solutions and advanced political systems. Secondly, the dark clouds of terrorism, complex territorial and historical disputes have been hovering over the SAARC since 1985, with absence of bilateral resolution mechanism, therefore putting the spanner in the working of the association. In order to turn the tables, the SAARC really needs to transform itself into a citadel of bilateral diplomacy and developed political systems.