Beyond Integration: UNU-CRIS’s Multidimensional Approach to Global Regionalism

UNU-CRIS (United Nations University - Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies) has a long-standing history of robust engagement, with its work extending across the local (Flemish), regional and global levels.

The institute has demonstrated its relevance and adaptability by evolving its research to address contemporary global issues and by shifting from a Eurocentric focus to the global and multidimensional nature of regionalism.

It has been ahead of its time, anticipating critical debates on a ‘regionalised world’ and challenges to multilateralism. Its evidence-based work is now more crucial than ever in a world of diffused power and conflicts.

UNU-CRIS’s research is deeply aligned with the broader UN mission and the SDGs, directly contributing to the necessary reform of global governance by focusing on the increasing importance of the “regional-global nexus.”

This Insight Brief is based on the intervention of the author during the UNU-CRIS 25th Anniversary Roundtable on the Past, Present and Future of Regionalism Studies, organised during the EU in International Affairs (EUIA) Conference in Brussels, May 2025.