Sobre la naturaleza de la integración regional: teorías y debates

a permanent feature of studies on regional integration is the difficulty of defining the dependent variable (integration) and the application -often simultaneously- of analytical tools from various approaches and theories of social sciences to attempt to overcome this problem. in this paper i will discuss the issue from an international relations perspective, focusing on the major debates surrounding regional integration, highlighting their particularities and typologies. in the first part i will examine the connection between regionalism and integration and subsequently i will explore the main theories linked to the issue in order to make generalizations. finally, and based on neofunctionalist approaches i will present a definition of regional integration that revitalizes the notion of transfer loyalties, a key idea that permits the distinction of this concept from other similar ones.