Regionalism: The Case of North America

The North American region is only starting to undertake a process of integration that at present limits itself to certain economic aspects like trade and investment. Although the goal has never been to engage in such an accomplished integration as the European Union, certain noneconomical aspects, like environmental and labour issues, are already taken into account. Can this sort of integration limit itself to the trade and investment level or can something deeper be achieved? And in the latter case, what role do certain structural factors like cultural differences, national identities, experiences of nation-building, internal conflicts, and the process of homogenization, and so on play in the process of integration or of regional institutionalization?