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PAIS Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation

Our Research

Please see here for a selection of past and current research projects conducted by CSGR affiliated researchers.

The Rise of Asia in International Financial Affairs

The rules, norms, and procedures that govern cross-border money and finance are central cornerstones of the global economy (Drezner & McNamara, 2013). In the liberal financial order, the underlying principles which inform this governance of finance enable the free flow of capital across borders as well as the creation of private profit to achieve ‘efficient’ allocation of resources (Konings, 2016; Petry et al., 2021). These norms of how the global financial system ought to operate were largely put in place by the United States and followed by European states. Asia now accounts for an increasing share of the global financial system (Pape & Petry, 2023). In 2020, Asian financial systems accounted for 34.3%, 43.1% and 29.3% of global bond, stock, and futures markets, respectively. However, contemporary analyses of the global financial order tend to neglect the growing importance of Asia: either the focus is on China’s challenge of liberal markets (Cohen, 2012; 2018; Helleiner & Kirshner, 2014; McNally, 2012; Petry, 2021; Kamel & Wang, 2019) or (other) Asian countries are analysed and compared at a national or regional level (Gotoh, 2019; Rethel & Sinclair, 2014; Rethel & Thurbon, 2021; Underhill & Zhang, 2005). With this project, we aim to bridge these levels of analysis by exploring the globalisation of Asian financial systems/actors and their relationship with the liberal financial order. How do Asian financial actors integrate into the global financial system? Do they contest, co-opt, or comply with liberal norms of market organisation? How do they enact economic and financial statecraft, and what responses do they face in international markets? How do global financial actors interact with Asian financial systems? What are the geopolitical and geoeconomic implications of these developments? This project is convened by Dr Fabian Pape (LSE), Dr Johannes Petry (Goethe-University Frankfurt) and Professor Lena Rethel (PAIS).

Markets as Spectacles? Globalising Islamic Economies

Globalising Islamic Economies examines the principles, practices and governance of Islamic economies, exploring the emergence and expansion of transnational Islamic economic flows and their governance. Project research was previously funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship and is currently at the writing up stage. The project lead is Professor Lena Rethel.

Speaking International Security at Warwick

Speaking International Security at Warwick - SISAW - provides a broad forum for speaking about security within CSGR and the University of Warwick. It is also an umbrella for impact-facing projects that focus on how political agents speak security and what difference this makes. SISAW is part of the ESRC Grant ES/K008684/1. The project lead is Professor Alexandra Homolar.

Past Research (selected)