Another False Dilemma: Regionalism and Globalization

The issue of compatibility or the dilemma between regionalism and globalization has become intensely current. It has become commonplace to point out that globalization is one of the distinctive characteristics of this end of the century, while at the same time, in an apparently paradoxical way, a boom in regionalization is noted. The debate on these extremes has been reactivated due to the proliferation of regional and subregional free trade agreements, economic integration and other forms of cooperation. This debate has also been revived by the advances in two regional cooperation processes, which have recently concluded their negotiating phase, but whose legal perfection is still pending: The Treaty on European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement.