| Review of: | The European Union and Regional Integration: A Comparative Perspective and Lessons for the Americas edited by J. Roy, R. Domínguez |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Trygve Ugland |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Common Market Studies |
| Date accepted online: | 10/04/2008 |
| Published in print: | Volume 45, Issue 05, Pages 1159-1167 |
Book Reviews
What lessons can be learned in the Americas from the European Union (EU) experiment in economic and political integration? This edited book addresses this compelling question in the contexts of integration processes in the sub-regions of North America (5 papers), Central America and the Caribbean (5 papers) and South America (4 papers), as well as at the Western Hemisphere level (5 papers), covering the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central American Common Market (CACM), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Andean Community (CAN), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTTAA) initiative.
The book is a result of an international conference held at the University of Miami in April 2005, and it brings together 16 authors with expertise in various substantive areas of regional integration in Europe and the Americas. The papers are well written and informative, and collectively, they provide a recent and comprehensive empirical foundation for drawing lessons on regional integration processes. However, this potential is not fully realized, and the title of the book is therefore rather misleading. The comparisons with the EU are occasional and underdeveloped, and the book fails to engage in explicit and systematic discussions of what lessons can be learned for the Americas from EU experiences and challenges with institution building, identity formation, democracy promotion, deepening versus widening, and how to deal with political and economic unevenness among its members. The comparative limitations are also evident across the various sub-regions and regional initiatives within the Americas. These omissions may be explained by the fact that the volume's authors do not share an elaborated conceptual, analytical or theoretical framework which informs the various contributions in a consistent manner. The absence of a concluding paper in which the editors make an attempt to offer a synthesis of the individual contributions and the lessons learned is therefore perhaps understandable, but nonetheless regrettable. After all, the papers present a number of intriguing themes and insights that could have been linked in a comparative structure of analysis.
A central message in the introductory paper of this book is that regional integration both in Europe and in the Americas is a work in progress. Along the same logic, this book provides sound empirical insights and represents a tentative step towards a better understanding of the conditions for developing integration processes in the Americas.