Whether the European Union or Asia will reign as the global regional power this century was the focus of a recent panel discussion to celebrate a new Cornell student journal, the Cornell International Affairs Review (CIAR).

"We call this our inaugural, but it is not so much a beginning as a long-awaited zenith -- the culmination of months of preparation, dedication and hard work," said Gracielle Cabungcal, president of CIAR.

The journal's mission is to present thoughtful and diverse reflections on forces currently influencing the international community.

At the panel discussion held Feb. 13 in the A.D. White House, more than 85 people listened to Peter Katzenstein and Hubert Zimmerman, both Cornell professors of government and members of CIAR's board of advisers, address "Global Politics: Will Regions Count in the 21st Century?"

"This is a critical moment for international affairs," said Luis-François de Lencquesaing '10, vice president of CIAR, who introduced the two professors. Both addressed the international power of Europe as a region and the individual nation-states constituting the European Union.

Zimmerman predicted that global influence of the EU will remain strong and perhaps increase in the coming years. He cited Europe's status as a leader in product standards, trading power and environmental technology, and pointed out that the region has advanced in these areas despite the differing socio-economic systems and traditions of EU member states.

"I predict that the future U.S. president will still make his or her first visit to Europe," Zimmerman said.

Katzenstein made a point of distinguishing between the use of the words "global" and "international."

"They describe a world of growing connection," he said. "They seem to overlap. And yet they are different."

International politics deals with nation-states as the primary actors, he argued, while globalization recognizes less clearly defined players. "The task for us," he remarked, "is to see how the strands combine."

Katzenstein went on to discuss the nature of political boundaries, whether physical, imagined or created. He cited such significant events as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center to illustrate important shifts from an international to a global view, and he gave Islam as an example of a non-state organization with global political power.

Although Katzenstein agreed with Zimmerman that Europe is an important global power, he argued that "the [political] revolution is happening in Asia." He spoke to Asia's growing influence and the resulting shifts in global organization that could occur.

"Concepts like trans-Atlantic," Katzenstein explained, "which seem so precise, are actually concealing our ignorance. They blend globalization and internationalization."

Amelia Apfel '08 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.