Steering Committee
Latin American integration is a long historical process characterized by multiple projects and goals. Thus, at the time of publishing issue number 33 of Integration & Trade Journal, various regional integration initiatives are celebrating, or about to celebrate, important anniversaries of their creation. The 2010-2011 biennial marked the 50th anniversary of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration, and the 30th anniversary of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA); also, twenty years have elapsed since the signing of the Treaty of Asunción, which launched the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). Also, in 2012 forty years will have passed since the Seventh Heads of Government Conference held in 1972, which decided to transform the then Caribbean Free Trade Agreement into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Together with these, we see some more recent developments, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Latin American Pacific Arch (ARCO), and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). All these efforts aimed not only at achieving a higher regional integration but also a greater international position for the region by strengthening its ties with extra-regional partners and participating in North-South Agreements. There is no doubt that integration processes in Latin America and the Caribbean (ALC) are currently facing challenges and choices in the ever changing global and domestic environments. The need for favoring flexibility to take a pragmatic approach to these mobile targets is in open contradiction with long-term vision and strategic commitments, always implicit in integration decisions. The tension between both targets becomes noticeable when evaluating the distance covered by several regional integration schemes, and examining the challenges of regional integration with an eye to the future.
In view of the above, the Journal issued a call for the submission of papers that reviewed regional integration processes in Latin America and the Caribbean from two complementary perspectives. One, in retrospect, with the purpose of drawing up a balance of achievements vis-à-vis initial expectations. The other, of strategic importance and looking towards the future, intended to question itself about the current regional integration challenges in a world of globalization where regional relationships are also becoming more intense, and both continue to spiral upwards. In either case, the basic ideas converge, as we identify in each of them the dilemmas faced by regional integration processes and, hence, the most promising decisions and choices at the present time.
Contents
| CALLS FOR I&T 34 |
| Article Submission for Integration & Trade Journal 34 (CLOSED) |
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