ABSTRACT
Here we argue that Iberian America is the least socially constructed of world regions, being far more ‘integrated’ than Europe. This stands out when Iberian American linguistic affinity is compared to Europe’s linguistic fragmentation. Linguistic integration is the most difficult to achieve, and it is probably why Iberian America has remarkably few violent interstate conflicts. Consequently, its national identities tend to be weaker than those of their European counterparts. Governments compensate by indoctrinating people with fictions of national grandeur. Identity policies attempt to make up for the lack of the clear national identities that language barriers engendered in Europe.
