What Will It Take to Build a North American Community?

Why is it important to assess North America’s integration potential? Regional integration is one method countries use to solve commonly held problems. In North America, many of the issues and problems among the three countries boil down to migration, security, and development. Migration, security, and development are interrelated problems because they have in common the quest for stable economic and political environments where individuals’ and states’ objectives can be realized. Individuals will choose to exit when they perceive the lack of economic opportunities and/or physical security in their home countries and believe that there are ample quantities of these two items in a neighboring country. ¹ Countries seek to control immigration in order to maximize security and development in their countries. ² Political development also helps in the area of security by reducing the likelihood of civil conflict ³ and external threats. ⁴ Economic development reduces the likelihood that individuals will seek the exit strategy. It also increases the likelihood that states will experience domestic stability and favorable relations with neighboring countries. Economic development, therefore, becomes the linchpin in solving the associated problems of migration and security. Political leaders can develop policies, laws, and regulations to solve these problems unilaterally. Another approach is to develop solutions in a trilateral manner. The aim of this chapter is to assess the probability of increasing trilateral cooperation.