International integration

Common usage of the term integration is frequently confusing. Integration, cooperation and community may be used interchangeably. In the study of international integration controversy is widespread even on the simplest issues and what constitutes a clarification for one school may mean a retreat for another. Efforts to exchange and harmonize views on the matter frequently only serve to further define cleavages.Examples of definitions include:

1. Institutions and practices strong enough and widespread enough to assure, for a long time, dependable expectations of peaceful change among the population.

2. The process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations and political activities toward a new centre, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the existing national states.

3. The concept of international integration, verbally defined as forming parts into a whole or creating interdependence, can be broken down into economic integration (formation of a transnational economy), social integration (formation of a transnational society), and political integration (formation of transnational political independence).

4. A process by which discriminations existing along national borders are progressively removed between two or more countries. This differs from the other main definition of integration which is static and considers integration as a state of affairs which would be obtained at the end of a fairly long process leading to the complete merger of national identities. It also excludes from consideration the problem of less developed regions inside the same country. (Despite some similarity in the difficult problems that have to be dealt with in both cases, the implementation of regional integration inside one nation is considerably less complex than the international problem).