Nation-State, Free Trade, and Economic Integration in Latin America

Evidence of tension between the economic policies of nation-states and trade liberalization processes in a number of countries around the world requires us to look beyond a strictly commercial interpretation of economic integration. Economic integration and its likely political outcomes transcend trade liberalization, the implications of which can even compromise integration processes. The potential for free trade to threaten regional integration is clear to see: it mainly arises from the upheaval that free trade causes in national economic systems and the tensions it generates in the political fabric of nation-states. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.