North American Integration

This book is the first comprehensive study available which explicitly examines the recent concluded North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through the lens of almost 40 years of European integration efforts, which have now culminated in the European Union (EU). The roots, content and probable results of NAFTA are analyzed and compared with those of the EU. The book begins with a brief survey of the demographies, geography and history of North America. This sets up an inquiry into the motives for entering into NAFTA for the three participants: the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. NAFTA's content and probable economic (and political) effects are then summarized. The European experience, and the lessons it holds, provide the common thread woven into the analysis. Finally, the role of the NAFTA, and the EU and other regional groupings in the context of international trade - especially GATT/WTO - is discussed.