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Laos ranks third, after Indonesia and Vietnam, among countries receiving chinese official development finance in Southeast Asia, according to the China AidData database, the most comprehensive on China's overseas deployment related to the New Silk Roads. The first part presents the sectors, timing, geographical distribution and actors of the $14.6 billion of projects financed over the period 2000-2017, concentrated mainly on the energy and transport-communications sectors. The second part studies the financial arrangements of the largest projects: dams and high-speed line. It shows that Laos is the first country in Southeast Asia to be caught up in the risks of over-indebtedness related to the methods of financing these major projects.

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Résumé Le présent article pose la problématique de l’intégration politique et économique de l’Afrique. Secouée dans le contexte actuel par les enjeux des puissances extérieures avec des implications politiques telles que les coups d’Etats à répétition ainsi que la montée en flèche du terrorisme en Afrique de l’Ouest, la communauté est dorénavant contrainte de pistonner au-devant de la scène, les enjeux sécuritaires au détriment des enjeux économiques qui au regard de cette problématique, connaîtront tout naturellement une régression au regard de l’évaluation dudit secteur qui, pourtant, s’inscrit dans la vocation originelle même du Traité constitutif. Abstract This article raises the issue of the political and economic integration of Africa. Shaken in the current context by the stakes of external powers with political implications such as repeated coups d'etat as well as the skyrocketing terrorism in West Africa, the community is now forced to boost in front of the scene, the security stakes to the detriment of the economic stakes which with regard to this problem, will quite naturally experience a regression with regard to the evaluation of the said sector which, however, falls within the very original vocation of the Constitutive Treaty.

Abstract This article aims at explaining the changes in the democratic conditionality of the European Union over time from the institutional contexts of the domestic and regional levels. The comparison milestones regard enlargements that happened between 1993 and 2014. Variations on the dependent variable are analysed in light of the principles and procedures of the concept of polyarchy (Dahl 1989). This analysis demonstrates and explains that the democratic conditionality of the EU has changed over time, becoming more complete and with more pluralist principles when applied to the enlargements. It also highlights the relation between the democratic conditionality and the democratic deficit of the EU by the incorporation of democratic principles and procedures in EU institutions.

Abstract In this article, we analyse the content of the speeches delivered by Brazilian Presidents, Foreign Ministers and Ambassadors at annual Ordinary Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in the period between 1946 and 2019. Our primary objective is to find out how often and under what circumstances Brazilian diplomats mentioned the subject of American regionalism and whether the mention was made in reference to specific projects or to abstract concepts of regional integration and cooperation. Based on this analysis, we highlight the great deal of importance that was given to MERCOSUR – and, to a lesser extent, UNASUR – to the detriment of other regional integration projects, as well as the preference, by Brazilian diplomats, for a flexible, low-profile, abstract and low-cost discursive approach. In short, we found that cooperation and integration have frequently been discussed, although little attention has been devoted to the limits and possibilities of each project under construction.

For stability and advance of the EU and prospective member countries, it is important to assess the best time for new enlargement. In this paper, we have tested a number of macroeconomic and macro-financial variables in order to check whether a number of countries were ready to join the EU, and whether the candidates are ready. Some variables present criteria of nominal convergence as defined in Maastricht Treaty, while the rest of variables indicate the level of real convergence. Univariate analysis has indicated that the membership in the EU is significantly affected by GDP per capita, general government final consumption expenditure, final consumption expenditure, gross capital formation, gross national expenditure, and inflation. Following the univariate binary logistic analysis and separation of variables that affect the individual membership in the EU, a multivariate regression analysis was applied. Multivariate binary logistic regression confirmed significance of general government final consumption expenditure and gross capital formation. The analysis indicated the importance of selecting the timing of accession in terms of the achieved economic development, expressed through the selected macroeconomic indicators. Moreover, it appears that the list of tested economic criteria was played at best a secondary importance in past European enlargements.

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In the northern and arctic space, the regional question seems to arouse new interest in the assessment of development and governance issues. The analysis of regional processes and their relationship to globalization initiates a new reading of Arctic transitions.In particular, regional integration processes question a wide variety of forms of political projects resulting from negotiations or demands. The Far Norths have become particularly dynamic spaces for creating regional value, in regional institutional context, such as in Nunavut or Greenland, in original project calling for management autonomy in Nunavik, or at the local level, in numerous empowerment processes.

Many researchers concur in observing that globalization has abolished neither distance, nor the usefulness of geographical proximity. Spatial constraints continue to shape exchanges, as well as the density and quality of interactions between societies. Even in a globalized world, pervaded with networks that disrupt traditional territorialities, it can be useful and even inevitable to build relationships with one’s neighbors. In this context, the notion of (macro)regional (or multi-state) integration deserves to be exploited. In particular, geographical research has so far eluded this concept, despite this discipline’s recognized expertise on the notions of region, distance, territory and territorial development, which are at the heart of the understanding of regional integration, both theoretically and empirically. This contribution aims to clarify the words, objects and methods of (macro)regional integration from the point of view of geographical semantics, as well as the evolution of theoretical approaches to the notion of region.

While the United Kingdom prepares to leave a weakened European Union, Brexit could mean a new stage in regionalisation in Europe, indeed in the world. If until then the major geopolitical processes went towards more regional integration, the United Kingdom could not follow this way. The Commonwealth has been widely promoted by Brexit leaders as the space in which the United Kingdom could politically and economically flourish after leaving the EU. The British strategy of international integration therefore seems to change scale and spatial references. By a critical geopolitical approach, this paper aims to question the contemporary definition of the Commonwealth and its relation to the concept of regionalisation, and analyse the feasibility of the Brexiters’ international strategy.

In this paper, we aim that it is the political cooperation driven "from above" in the post-Cold War era that has led to visible regional institutional integration in the Arctic. This institutional integration stems from the Arctic state's desire to protect the environment as a pretext for political cooperation. In a context of increased politicization of the region due to the consequences of climate change, the construction of the Arctic region becomes indeed a way for the Arctic states to gradually pushed out indigenous organizations and external actors from the decision-making bodies. In return, this model of closed governance is challenged by those who are trying to broaden the boundaries of the region with new and more open forms of governance. Political actors at different scales thus converge to build regional governance that is not only multilevel, but also entangled and creates a region with fuzzy borders.

A legal and historical approach of European airspace highlights the advantage taken by observing the construction of regional entities from a geographer’s perspective. The European integration sheds a new light on the various historical and institutional legacies as they are involved in a dynamic system marked by "growing ascendancy of the EU" (Blavoukos, 2011). The main international organizations in charge of the European air space management (ICAO, ECAC, Eurocontrol, EASA) are operating at several geographical scales in an evolving geopolitical context that cartography on its own would have a hard time to render properly. However, such a challenge has an obvious geographical dimension in organizing a common airspace and in sharing the national sovereignties over it.

The article focuses on the place of cross-border cooperation in the construction of regional integrations, by crossing the analysis of two regions in the global South which have largely inspired the European model: the Central American Integration System (SICA in Spanish) and a whole formed by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA in French) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, CEDEAO in French). It’s about questioning the political and territorial issues of regional integration processes by focusing on what is happening on their internal borders, regional integration having the objective of removing the barriers related to their presence. The authors analyze how cross-border cooperation processes have been promoted as regional integration tools in each of the two groups studied. Then, the comparison allows to identify common obstacles and barriers, but also to highlight a move towards differentiated cross-border cooperation and integration models.

This paper examines the building process of maritime security in a context of regional integration, focusing on the Wider Caribbean Region and its Atlantic and Pacific seaboard. Based on research conducted on three continents with several national and regional institutions and interviews with various players in the security, diplomatic and maritime fields, this study aims to analyse the way in which States and international organisations perceive and adapt to regional maritime threats in space, in a coordinated or uncoordinated manner. It also aims to analyse how and to what extent these security constraints and responses can be a vector for strengthening regional political integration processes. By presenting a typology and spatial manifestations of active maritime threats in this area, this article first highlights a certain "community of destiny" of the States and international organisations of the region faced with these issues. The results show that the construction of security systems is mainly structured on a sub-regional scale, generally favouring geographical and political proximity, often relying on pre-existing regional institutions. The article also highlights a correlation between the political fragmentation of maritime space and increased vulnerability to direct and indirect risks.

Countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA) share a common interest in the development of a regional regulatory framework that can give impetus to the dynamism of the embryonic digital economy in the region. The trend towards the progressive implementation of new and stricter rules on e-commerce fosters increments on foreign investment and generation of spill over effects. However, the preference for the models inspired by the FTAs negotiated by the United States, as well as a clear predilection for self-regulation schemes, reflect the dominant role of the private sector in the negotiations within the PA. This scenario raises serious doubts about the institutional model of the Alliance and its suitability to frame sustainable solutions to the complex social and economic consequences derived from the deepening of the digital economy.

Abstract In this article, I examine Latin American regionalism from the collapse of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to the emergence and development of the Pacific Alliance (PA) in the period 2005 to 2015. For most of the research, I use the main economic blocs in the region, Mercosur as well as the PA, as the units of analysis. The main findings are that since the FTAA’s collapse, integration processes have become more heterogeneous; that Mercosur and the PA contrast with one another in political-economic terms; that the Brazilian project of establishing a post-liberal/post-hegemonic regionalism in South America has not succeeded; and that regional demand for Brazilian products is at risk of shifting to other markets in the medium to long term, thus further undermining its aspirations towards regional leadership. All of this is evidence of a decentred economic regionalism – that is, a form of regionalism in which no single state is in central command, or has enough followers to assume leadership and establish a dominant conception of integration and regional cooperation. Other factors contributing to this decentralisation are the poor economic performance of Brazil and Mexico, and the US government’s changed attitude towards trade relations with Latin America. Despite this, I argue that Latin American countries do need to strengthen cooperation within and among these regional blocs, aimed at promoting their joint global competitiveness. This will require cooperation rather than coercion, and networks and connectivity rather than hierarchies.

In recent years, historians have focused on efforts at the turn of the 20th century by Alejandro Álvarez, Luis María Drago, and Baltasar Brum (all Southern Cone diplomats) to foster continental cooperation by Pan-Americanizing the Monroe Doctrine. Overlooked in this endeavor are the remarkable activities of Colombian author, journalist, and diplomat, Santiago Pérez Triana. Using primary and secondary sources, this article analyzes Pérez Triana’s support of the Drago Doctrine at the 1907 Hague Convention, his speeches at the Pan-American Financial Conference in 1915, and his essays published in Hispania, a journal that he edited between 1912 and 1916, to show how he won the respect of American and European diplomats by emerging as an influential spokesman for Pan-Americanizing the Monroe Doctrine and for hemispheric unity.

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Copyright of Études Caribéennes is the property of Etudes Caribeennes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

EU agricultural integrated policies among the EU and the southern Mediterranean countries are more evidently distilled through the EU-Mediterranean process (EUROMED). After 10 years of the Agadir agreement entry into force, this paper attempts to assess the agriculture trade integration among countries signed under the agreement, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, by evaluating firstly the degree of sectorial and geographical dispersion of the four countries agricultural exports and secondly appraising the extent of agricultural trade complementarity towards EU countries. In this study, using the available agricultural trade data for the period 2007-2016 and the twenty-four agricultural sectors classification (CN codes 01-24), we will build three trade indices; Regional Hirschman, Sectorial Hirschman and the Trade Complementarity Index. And, finally, we will discuss the result and highlight the limitation and the challenges that hinder agricultural trade integration among southern and northern Mediterranean countries.

The article analyzes the problems of the evolution of Eurasian integration in the post-Soviet space, the characteristic features of the process. Based on the consideration of international documents that form the basis of Eurasian economic integration, and the main organizational and legal forms of interaction between the states of the Eurasian region, the authors propose the periodization of the Eurasian integration process. Four stages are substantiated in the paper: I. Formation of integration processes within the Commonwealth of Independent States with the creation of various mechanisms of interaction between the states. II. Creation of the Eurasian Economic Community and continued integration on the basis of this international organization. III. Creation of the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. IV. The creation of the Eurasian Economic Union – to date. The authors conclude that the integration of the former Soviet republics was carried out at various levels of cooperation, the logical result of which was the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union as the highest form of integration of the post-Soviet states at the moment. Further development of this international organization requires both a well-developed legal framework and the creation of appropriate economic, political and other objective prerequisites.

The article discusses the problems of the interaction process of legal systems of international integration organizations with law of states that are not members of those entities. The research has been conducted on the example of the European Union. The authors conclude that the degree of influence of the international treaties between the EU and third countries on the legal orders of these states differs depending on the level of cooperation between the parties, which is precisely determined by such agreements. The European Union law is the main means of spreading the influence of the European Union on the legal systems of non-member states. Approximation of national legislation with the European Union’s acquis is a consistent process of approximation of the legal system of the state, including legislation, lawmaking, legal technique, law enforcement practice in accordance with the criteria set by the Union. Peculiarities of the legal approximation of law of particular states with law of the European Union are determined by the nature of the relationship between those subjects, by the goals set for such cooperation and fixed in mutual international treaties, as well as by the peculiarities of the state mechanism and the legal system of the respective state. Consequently, regarding European Union – Russia interaction in the field, regulatory engagement can be hardly called as efficient, smooth, and cloudless.

La Russie participe à la régionalisation du monde et à l'intégration régionale en Europe. Pendant des siècles, elle a construit une réalité territoriale impé-riale, tout en entretenant des relations fortes avec l'Europe. Dans cet article, on montre que la problématique de l'intégration régionale appliquée à la Russie renvoie ainsi à deux espaces de référence – l'Europe et l'empire – qui renvoient eux-mêmes à problématiques différentes. On montre égale-ment que l'histoire et la géographie, à l'instar d'autres disciplines, permet-tent d'explorer ces problématiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French Guiana, a French overseas territory, long lived in a near-complete ignorance of its geographical environment, because of its status, its exclusion from regional integration and the representations of its own inhabitants. However the numerous illicit flows integrating it informally to the continent, and more particularly the important border migrations, have brought the population and the political class, in the midst of a real identity quest since the 1960s, to grow closer to the Amazonian world. On the whole, to assume a new territoriality, of which the immigrants were the pioneers, and now exploited by France and the European Union for geopolitical and sustainable development stakes, which do not always coincide with the strategies of territorial affirmation of the Guianese people.

In the 2000s, the political integration project of South America gained prominence from the initiative of the countries of the region, especially Brazil. International security was a central theme in the search for South American political autonomy. On the one hand, there was institutional progress and renewal of defense structures and security of the region. On the other hand, the limitations imposed by the "hemispheric" condition (being in the immediate strategic environment of the United States) make it difficult to consolidate a more cohesive South American sphere. This paper explores these contradictions of the South American project based on the analysis of the political and strategic documents of the South American countries and of UNASUR, as well as data on defense expenditures and arms transfers.

In the 2000s, the political integration project of South America gained prominence from the initiative of the countries of the region, especially Brazil. International security was a central theme in the search for South American political autonomy. On the one hand, there was institutional progress and renewal of defense structures and security of the region. On the other hand, the limitations imposed by the "hemispheric" condition (being in the immediate strategic environment of the United States) make it difficult to consolidate a more cohesive South American sphere. This paper explores these contradictions of the South American project based on the analysis of the political and strategic documents of the South American countries and of UNASUR, as well as data on defense expenditures and arms transfers.

There is an inherent contradiction between the regional integration projects in Latin America, albeit rhetorically conducted, and the staunch defense by most countries of their national sovereignty, which restricts and opposes many liberalization mechanisms implicit in, and necessary to, the integration processes, based on the rendition of sovereignty in some areas of economic relevance, including, and especially, trade and industrial policies, as well as other sectorial measures. The dilemma is historically compounded by a juridical tradition that places the retraction into an introverted version of the sovereignty principle into the context of conceptual elaborations well known in the international law, such as Calvo doctrine and the Drago principle. Brazil is one of the most resolute promoters of the national sovereignty principle among Latin American countries, clearly expressed in its constitutional chart and foreign policy stances, since the Second Hague peace conference of 1907. Other Latin American countries, mainly in Central America and the Caribbean, are much more motivated by real concerns over recurrent United States interventionism in the regional, in some cases by military means. This framework has somewhat infringed on integration projects, which is also hindered by economic nationalism and state interventionism.

This article explores the history of regional integration in the Americas, drawing lessons from the diverse ways that people have sought to unite the hemisphere. It begins at the point when most of the modern nation-states of Latin America came into being: the nineteenth-century wars for independence. From there, it traces various attempts at regional integration, keeping in mind three fundamental questions: How does regional integration compromise sovereignty? Does it have to? Is it worth sacrificing sovereignty to increase integration? The article concludes that while every attempt at regional integration in the Americas has required the participants to voluntarily sacrifice some measure of their sovereignty, the most successful efforts have been those that either kept the sacrifice to a minimum or offered significant enough rewards to offset the loss of sovereignty.

In the context of the "Arab Spring", the international community decided to support the Arab countries engaged in reform processes or democratic change. That is the goal of the Deauville Partnership launched in France in May 2011. To this end, there is no denying that it can be argued that Morocco is ahead of the other partner countries stakeholders in this partnership. Indeed, the reforms initiated by the latter, supported and consolidated under the new constitution in July 2011, put Morocco in a comfortable enough situation. But vigilance should remain in force, since the process is in fact never interrupted, the reforms are an ongoing process. The objective here is not to expose the list of reforms that have been introduced or set in motion, but our goal is to look to those directly aligned with the objectives of the Deauville Partnership.

En las últimas décadas los países del Sur de América Latina realizaron reformas que tuvieron en la estructura académica y en la formación de los profesores dos de sus ejes de transformación. Si adoptamos la perspectiva comparada e internacional, podemos evidenciar que en las reformas educativas implementadas en los países latinoamericanos, se notó una ampliación del rango de obligatoriedad hasta llegar a cubrir la educación de nivel medio. Entendemos que la comprensión histórica de los ciclos, modalidades, de sus cambios y el estudio curricular respectivo, permite interpretar las implicancias que tienen las transformaciones implementadas en dichas dimensiones en la actualidad de la realidad educativa en estos países. En este trabajo realizamos un análisis de los cambios que experimentó la formación del profesorado para el nivel secundario en algunos países del MERCOSUR para identificar divergencias y convergencias de las transformaciones así como los fundamentos pedagógicos que orientaron dichas acciones de reforma educativa.This article focuses on the educational reforms that have taken place in South America countries. Academic structures and teachers training programs were affected by these policies. From a comparative and international perspective, it is possible to identify also an increase of the range of compulsory education that reaches the secondary-level of education in most of Western countries. We believe that it is necessary to understand from an historical point of view the changes of the cycles, tracks and the curricula of these educational systems. Therefore, in this paper we analyze changes experimented at the training teacher policy, for the secondary level, in some MERCOSUR countries. We will point out divergences and convergences of educational reforms as well as their pedagogical foundations.

In the last decade we have seen the creation process of a common Energy Policy, which was gradually adopted by all Community countries, and has promoted an integrated competitive European energy market, increased security of supply and supported the use renewable energy sources. But in order for this policy to work efficiently, it also had to promote international cooperation with its neighbors and energy suppliers. With the view of establishing an Integrated Energy Market Organization in South-Eastern Europe, the European Community, along with nine other countries, has signed on 25 October 2005 the treaty establishing the Energy Community. Our research aims to investigate the potential of the European Union to promote security of energy supply and energy markets integration through the Energy Community. The article uses data from theoretical and empirical research on the economic and politic relations between the members of the Energy Community in order to establish the positive and negative outcomes of six year of collaboration.

The paper is focused on the idea of a new approach on the integration process under the presentglobal crisis. This is why the analyse tries to present „new” integration organisations which are made in orderto face the new socio-economic challenges. The whole theoretical approach is based on the latest importantspecific researches in the world. A distinct part of the paper deals with a case study connected to BRIC. Themain conclusion of the paper is not optimistic. The world economy is not able to face the crisis and thesolutions have to be found at individual level. Moreover the world economy is close to a more destructivewar: the economic war for survive.

O que me proponho neste trabalho é discutir o tema da livre circulação dos trabalhadores no Mercosul, levando-se em conta que esta liberdade - diferentemente de outras que aparecem como objetivos essenciais a serem alcançados no processo de integração desta sub-região - não faz parte do texto do Tratado de Assunção, assinado em março de 1991. Esta ausência é reveladora, na medida em que a liberdade de circulação de pessoas constitui um dos elementos que evidencia com maior clareza a existência de um processo de integração, na medida em que afeta diretamente a vida dos cidadãos assegurando seu livre trânsito dentro do bloco e oportunidades iguais entre os nacionais e não nacionais. No texto do referido Tratado, a integração aparece limitada à circulação de capitais, bens e serviços, liberdade assegurada pela eliminação de qualquer medida que possa prejudicá-la. Partindo dessa discussão, pretendo examinar quais os avanços institucionais já alcançados no sentido da criação de políticas que, concretamente, conduzam à abertura de fronteiras entre os países do Mercosul por meio das quais seus cidadãos - neste caso, os trabalhadores - possam se deslocar livremente e residir em seu local de trabalho. Para tanto, acredito que conhecer a experiência da União Europeia possa ser de grande utilidade.My proposal for this article is to discuss the free mobility of workers inside the Mercosul block, bearing in mind that this liberty, in the contrary of others issues that arise as essential aims to be reached in the integration process of the region, wasn't incorporated in the Assunção Treaty, signed in march 1991. This absence is revealing in the sense that the liberty of circulation of persons is one of the elements that show with more evidence the existence of an integration process as it affects directly the life of its citizens ensuring their free displacement inside the region and equal opportunities among nationals and no nationals. In the text of the above-mentioned Treaty, integration appears only in reference to the circulation of capital, goods and services, being this liberty safeguarded by the elimination of any obstacle which could damage this road. Enlarging this discussion, I intend to look up what institutional advances has been reached in the course of the process, in the sense of the inclusion of measures which lead to the opening of the borders of Mercosul countries through which its citizens - in our case, the workers - could move with liberty and could live in the place where they work. To discuss this point, I believe that the knowledge of European experience is of great utility.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a forma como algumas escolas de pensamento, representadas por figuras significativas, percebem no Brasil o tema da integração regional. O foco é a segunda metade do século XX, buscando compreender as concepções de projeção regional e internacional do país, que fundamentam as possibilidades de integração. Para isso, serão discutidos os seguintes temas: o papel do Estado, a visão de país, o nacionalismo, o desenvolvimento econômico e o subdesenvolvimento, o reconhecimento internacional e a percepção dos vizinhos. A ideia da especificidade frente aos países vizinhos é um elemento presente na obra de intelectuais e de formuladores de políticas. Ela se faz presente em muitos países, inclusive em outros dessa região. Buscaremos entender como essa ideia evoluiu no Brasil, chegando, nos anos 1980, à aceitação da existência de uma comunidade de interesses com os países do Cone Sul e da América do Sul.The aim of this article is to analyze the way some schools of thought represented by persons of renown look upon the issue of regional integration in Brazil. The focus is on the second half of the 20th century, seeking to understand the conceptions of the country's regional and international projection that ground the possibilities for integration. To this end, the following themes are discussed: the role of the State; the vision for the country; nationalism; economic development and underdevelopment; international recognition; and neighbors' perception. The idea of specificity in relation to neighboring countries is an element present in the work of intellectuals and policy-makers. It is also present in other countries, including in countries of this region. We endeavor to understand how this idea evolved in Brazil, culminating in the 1980s with the acceptance of the existence of a community of interests with the countries of the Southern Cone and of South America.

We believe that globalization and its socio-economic implications of the world and world economic crisis is one of the most debated issues from several years. The publication "The Economist’’ named globalization as the most used word of the century. The most relevant dimension of globalization is the economy with the more dynamic factors: technological development, the hegemony of liberal conceptions (closely linked to the triumph of the ideology of market economy) and explosive development of countries or regions. Economic globalization has manifested a series of visible effects such as: the emergence of new markets and foreign trade (interconnected at global level), the appearance of: transnational companies, multilateral agreements on trade, broadening the scope of WTO, transformation of multinational companies in transnational companies and the emergence of global economic markets. Regionally, we noticed that the trendof concentration of economic activity is more pronounced and advanced in the European continent. Expanding globalization in Europe was achieved because of the fall of communism, and the neoliberal reformation which took place in Western European countries. Events like the fall of the Berlin Wall, followed by the fall of communism eradicated many political, economic, religious or cultural barriers. There were born new relations between state and market, public and private. European Union is, in our view, a regional office ofglobalization, representing the best performing integrative system in the world (by creating free trade area, customs union, common market, the Economic and Monetary Union). In terms of the European Commission,European model is a third way towards globalization, a middle path between protectionism and uncontrolled economy. To understand why the EU is an advanced approximation of globalization, perhaps a regional model of globalization, we must first understand the link between globalization and regional integration. Regional integration can be considered a preparatory step toward a global system, showing the need to solve the problem of sovereignty disposals as a member attribute manager.

O trabalho analisa os fatores macro e microeconômicos que impulsionaram as recentes mudanças profundas registradas na relação comercial entre o Brasil e a Argentina, caracterizadas por um déficit argentino crescente. Conclui-se, do ponto de vista macro, que os comportamentos dos níveis de atividade econômica e do tipo de câmbio bilateral não são suficientes para explicar as transformações indicadas. São analisados, então, os fatores microeconômicos vinculados com um aprofundamento dos saldos negativos do intercâmbio bilateral de manufaturas de origem industrial, e uma diminuição dos saldos positivos dos demais itens (produtos primários, manufaturas de origem agropecuária e combustíveis) para a Argentina. As conclusões indicam que a evolução da relação comercial bilateral está fortemente vinculda com mudanças na esfera produtiva sofridas por ambas as nações. Isto, longe de sugerir uma situação fechada ou concluída, enfatiza a necessidade de coordenar futuras estratégias regionais para fortalecer um comércio do tipo intraindustrial que consolide a situação competitiva do Mercosul em relação a terceiros mercados.This work analizes the macro and microeconomic factors that led to recent transformations in the trade relations between Argentina and Brazil. The conclusions are that those transformations were strongly linked with the changes in the productive field that took place in each of both countries. But far from being a final situation, this work enphazises the necesity to coordinate futures strategies to strenghen an intraindustrial type of trade that could help to consolidate the competitive position of Mercosur in relation to third markets.

The continuing process of globalization has resulted in new trends of economic relations among countries. The modern regional integration goes beyond the traditional removal of barriers and includes free movement of factors of production which brings larger benefits than merely those from the liberalization of trade. In this paper the analysis of the level of capital mobility in the four regional integrations(EU-15, ASEAN, MERCOSUR and NAFTA) has been conducted in order to examine the level of capital mobility in the mentioned integrations as well as to analyze the effect that the formation of the integration had on its capital mobility.

Pode-se verificar, desde o final da década de 1990, uma tendência de institucionalização da condicionalidade política em diversas instituições internacionais. Estas instituições têm tornado explícita a importância do respeito, por parte dos Estados participantes, ao Estado de direito, aos direitos humanos e à democracia; têm também criado mecanismos de controle, supervisão e promoção destes princípios. A forma como tais princípios têm sido institucionalizados, os instrumentos disponíveis para garantir sua aquiescência, a aquiescência efetiva e seu efeito sobre os Estados-membros variam de acordo com cada instituição. Este artigo analisa o caso da União Européia. Apesar do consenso sobre os valores democráticos entre seus membros fundadores, foi somente em 1997, com o Tratado de Amsterdã, que eles se tornaram uma condição formal para a participação no processo de integração. O presente artigo procura responder, primeiramente, como, e por que, a condicionalidade política tem sido institucionalizada na União Européia, explorando dois fatores em particular: 1) o processo de ampliação do processo de integração e 2) crises políticas específicas que ocorreram nos Estados-membros. Adicionalmente, o artigo indaga se a condicionalidade pode ser considerada um instrumento efetivo de promoção da democracia. Busca-se analisar se a intervenção a favor da democracia tem um efeito qualitativo sobre os regimes domésticos, ou seja, explora-se os limites do uso da condicionalidade política como um instrumento de promoção e defesa da democracia.Promotion Political conditionality has been institutionalized in many international institutions since the end of the 1990s. These institutions have been making it more explicit the importance of the respect, on the part of its participants, of the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy, and have been creating mechanisms of control and promotion of these principles. The form how these principles have been institutionalized, and the available instruments to guarantee their compliance, the effective compliance, and its effects upon Member-States varies with each institution. The present article analyses the case of the European Union. Despite the consensus about democratic values among its founding members, it was only in 1997, with the Treaty of Amsterdam, that they became a formal condition to participate in the process of integration. This article addresses firstly, how, and why political conditionality has been institutionalized in the European Union, exploring two factors in particular: the process of enlargement, and specific political crises. In addition, the article inquires whether political conditionality can be considered an effective instrument of democracy promotion. It analyses whether interventions in favor of democracy have a qualitative effect upon domestic governments, in other words, it explores the limits of the use of the political conditionality as an instrument of defense and promotion of democracy.

Mainly based on a field research carried out in 2012 by an international research group, this paper aims to understand why it seems so difficult for Kaliningrad to get fully integrated in the Baltic region, although the conditions for the development of cross-border cooperation (CBC) and regional integration exist. The relative isolation of Kaliningrad from the rest of the Baltic region is caused by its particular status as a subject of disagreement between Russia and the European Union and by institutional policy. But there are also purely local reasons for that situation. The weak integration of Kaliningrad in Baltic exchange networks is also caused by the persistence of adverse geopolitical orientations in the local populations and persistent stereotypes in the public opinion.

O estado da Flórida e seus produtores de laranja e de cana-de-açúcar colocam-se no centro do palco das relações econômicas entre os Estados Unidos e o Brasil e do drama da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA). Poderosos e persistentes, esses modestos interesses econômicos têm sua importância política amplificada pelo papel de pivô da Flórida nas recentes eleições presidenciais dos Estados Unidos. Aumentado pelo papel de pivô do estado no Colégio Eleitoral, os interesses dos setores de laranja e de cana-de-açúcar têm efetivamente restringido a autonomia do Executivo dos EUA. Este trabalho emprega a teoria de ratificação de acordos internacionais de Putnam e examina as contribuições de campanha dessas indústrias para explorar os desafios de ratificação de Nível II associado à influência política das principais forças protecionistas da Flórida. Este exame demonstra como os interesses faccionais e as instituições políticas podem se cruzar para ampliar a importância de indústrias com interesses estreitos e prescritos territorialmente, sob condições de alta incerteza eleitoral. Por fim, o artigo explora as implicações desses interesses inegociáveis sobre as relações EUA-Brasil e a política comercial brasileira.The state of Florida and its orange and sugarcane producers stand at the center-stage of United States - Brazil economic relations and the Free Trade in the Americas (FTAA) drama. Powerful and persistent, the political importance of these modest economic interests is amplified by Florida's pivotal role in United States' presidential elections of late. Magnified by the the state's pivotal role in the Electoral College, Florida orange and sugarcane interests have effectively restricted the autonomy of the U.S. Executive. This paper employs Putnam's(1988) international agreement ratification theory and examines these industries campaign contributions to explore the Level II ratification challenges associated with the political influence of Florida's primary protectionist forces. This examination demonstrates how factional interests and political institutions can intersect to amplify the political importance of narrow, territorially prescribed industries under conditions of high electoral uncertainty. Lastly, the article explores the implications of these intractable interests upon U.S.-Brazil relations and Brazilian trade policy.

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Born in Cartagena (Colombia) on the 26th of May, 1969, the Andean Community of Nations (CAN, former Andean Pact, currently made up of four countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) is an imperfect customs union. In spite of its reactivation in the 1990s, sub-regional Andean integration has since constantly been hampered by the very weaknesses which have plagued it for forty years: comparative weaknesses of countries seen as the driving force behind the integration process; lack of a strong domestic consensus in favour of integration; and the recurrent political instability of its members. After a long series of successive advances, retreats, and attempted kick-starting, the recent departure of Venezuela represents another setback for Andean integration.

Combining different analytical grids (historical, spatial and territorial, economical, and geopolitical) this article puts into question the existence of an Andean region and the presence of common sense of belonging in the Andean world. The recent vicissitudes of Andean integration reveals that the process of political integration of a territory coterminous with that of the Cordillera ought not to be taken for granted. Neither in the cultural heritage of the countries built on this chain of mountains, nor in the latest reformulations of territorial projects, does the Andean referent seem consensual. However, the ways in which innovative transnational territorial projects draw upon it show how the Andes oddly resurface when the political constructions based on the borders of Nation-States – whose imaginings had repressed it – are being undermined.

Nenhum processo de integração regional está isento de críticas sobre o seu alegado déficit democrático e/ou institucional. A razão destes déficits é, freqüentemente, apontada como uma conseqüência da escassa accountability e da falta de transparência dos sistemas de decisão em nível regional. Os diferentes blocos regionais têm tentado responder a um ou ambos dos déficits em causa, mediante uma variedade de métodos e opções institucionais. A mais visível das fórmulas aplicadas é a criação e fortalecimento de um Parlamento regional - ou seja, supranacional. Este artigo pretende analisar, comparativamente, cinco Parlamentos regionais na Europa e na América Latina - o Parlamento Europeu, o Parlamento Latino-Americano, o Parlamento Centro-Americano, o Parlamento Andino e a Comissão Parlamentar Conjunta do Mercosul - com o objetivo de compreender o impacto que estas instituições têm tido no âmbito da representação regional, dos processos de decisão e do fortalecimento da accountability. As conclusões sugerem cinco fatores que os autores consideram pertinentes para a explicação das diferenças verificadas entre as duas regiões transatlânticas.Virtually no process of regional integration has been safe from the criticism of allegedly suffering from either democratic deficit, institutional deficit or both. These deficits, the argument goes, are the consequence of scarce accountability and the lack of transparency in regional decision-making. Different regional blocs have attempted in a variety of ways to confront one or both of these deficits, the most visible of which is the creation and empowerment of a regional parliament. This paper presents a comparative analysis of five of these institutions in Europe and Latin America - i.e. the European Parliament, the Latin American Parliament, the Central American Parliament, the Andean Parliament, and the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Mercosur - with the aim of understanding their impact on regional representation, decision-making and accountability. The conclusions pinpoint five plausible factors in accounting for the differences found across the Atlantic divide.

Ten years after the implementation of the Agreement of Northern American Free Exchange (NAFTA), the borderland of the North of Mexico must adapt to new economic conditions. This article aims to give how, since 2003, the extension of the free exchange on a national scale limits the possibilities of exchange in the case of a traditionally open area like the Northern Border and in particular the Baja California State.