Inicio » Jean Monnet Chair » The future of interregional integration. Towards a reformulation of the international community.


By Carlos Hakansson

I.On the eve of a new global scenario

The progress of the integration movements in the world will lead to a new international scenario, in my opinion a much more realistic and efficient than existing bodies to promote international peace. The contemporary public international law has not been able to solve the problems encountered with the end of the cold war and global terrorism. Therefore, we believe that the new global authority that is pending to set up, and to replace the UN (second try after the League of Nations) should be the product of inter-regional integration movements in the world. Therefore, this will not be creating a great assembly which receives all states regardless of whether they are or not, able to respect for democratic principles and human rights, but the result of a gradual and modest advance with common goals to start a political integration. From this approach, we ask if it possible that the right of integration can be the basis for a new organization of the international community? To answer we should take into account the arguments of the right of integration into a globalized world. In this regard we also wonder, what are the arguments we found in the integration right to entrust the task?

II. The functionalist thesis

The first argument is that the right of integration is not limited to economic welfare but becomes a way that crosses all matters: economic, social, cultural and political. As we know, the first step towards European integration gave Robert Schuman when the May 9, 1950 proposed a plan devised by Jean Monnet to integrate and manage joint Franco-German production of coal and steel. This measure of economic integration sought develop closer relations between France and Germany, to forget the threat of a third world war. Subsequently, the conclusion of the Treaty of Rome (1957) meant the triumph of the functionalist thesis, which was that the integration strategy will gradually affecting various economic sectors and gradually will be creating supranational institutions in the Member States start to yield economic powers, administrative and, ultimately, political. In short, it was the gradual economic integration was paving the way towards political union, a long-term goal. Thus, we can realize that, in light of the results and if we compared with international public law, the right of integration also poses high goals (prosperity, welfare, justice, solidarity and peace) but we see the results at view.

III. The right of integration tends to become inter-regional

The second argument is in building relationships, not between states but between unions, communities or blocks, when they are in development, and eventually promote a new way of conducting international relations begin to address themes gradually and not so ambitious, that is, starting in the economic to achieve the fundamental political issues concerning not only the citizens of the region but for mankind. The third argument would be the need to forge a new global authority to manage all common themes. The reasons are to argue that reading a new world order based on the following: first depletion nation-state model since the concept of sovereignty was in crisis and lacking sustainability argument. Second, because today, the “new barbarians” are those non-political communities, even formally, in an integration process, in other words, the contemporary world requires States to open up the world. Thirdly, because today we recognize that everything is global, that somehow or another certain action reverberate around the world, the economic crisis, terrorism and environmental damage are three clear contemporary examples.

IV. Interregional integration requires the need a new principle: the principle of globality

The fourth argument promotes the discovery of new principles that will help the cohesion of the system. We refer to the principle of globality, which arises from the recognition of globalization, for it will be the guiding principle of interdependence for the common good, it will mean full participation of all subjects of international law such as the States, agencies of international scope, the individual and humanity in decisions which by necessity can only be taken by the international community. Decisions on how to achieve peace, development, preservation of the environment healthy and ecologically balanced environment to encourage research in curing diseases that potentially threaten the lives and health of mankind (since there is no treatment yet or effective cure), the fight against drug trafficking cannot remain a problem for countries committed, has also been globalized. The global principle we must be inspired by the medieval aphorism: Quod omnes tangit, ad omnibus probetur. That is, “what touches all must be approved by all”.

V. A proposal: Towards a new international community

The principal argument is that the right of integration may provide the pillars for a new international community and do not repeat the mistakes of the first two attempts to create a global institution. The results obtained with the European Union model can serve as examples. The first process is central to any community, we are referring to the integration processes are institutional, there is no hegemony of some state. While it is a historical fact that the European Union reconciled with France and Germany, and both countries have a weight and importance in the Union, the European Community process has always been concerned with each enlargement of establishing and improving decision-making systems creating the so-called weighted voting, which prevents “large countries suffocate to the little ones”. Another advantage of the integration processes is that they are best identified with the idea of political communities in the state, the first being more flexible than the latter. This is a work in progress nearing completion but it is clear that the sovereign state model, closed, does not fit in a globalized world and tends to universality. So, once consolidated regional blocs, where most or all have passed through the necessary path of a union of merchants to a union of citizens, it will start a fruitful relation between blocks, starting an integration about employment, educational, industrial, security, transportation, etc; and the transfer of powers to common institutions with a general (a global parliament), and a global judicial body to resolve disputes between them and with regional or global institutions of government. The most successful integration processes have always begun by economics, which first promoted the movement of goods and services and, as a logical consequence, soon will promote the movement of people who will require the same rights and guarantees; an integration policy more suited to a globalized world, more universal and personal than just interstate, as happened in public international law. Clearly the integration of blocks should be progressive, so we feel that we are facing the formation of a new international community, which will take years to finish setting but its early achievements are obvious, as is the increasingly greater conviction that contemporary political communities cannot live outside of an integration process, of any kind whatsoever (tariff union, common market, economic community, monetary union). It is also clear that it will be a slower process but also more realistic and flexible, since they live for the progressive incorporation of the blocks as early budgets demanding respect for human rights, democratic institutions and economic stability. The European Union’s success is the paradigm we should bear in mind the other blocs or movements of integration (NAFTA, Andean Community, Caribbean Community, African Union, APEC, etc.) in order not only to establish together with the start of relationships, global commercial but rather the future reformulation of an international community that, like the European Union can generate its own institutions to replace the United Nations Organization in the future.



2 comentarios

    hesitate a lot and never seem to get nearly anything done.

  2. Evelyne dice:


    I like all of the points you have made.



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