Why Regional Integration Benefits

1 What Is Regional Integration? In 1965 Sir Arthur Lewis wrote, “These islands did not start on the federal road in a fit of idleness. They started because it was clear that a Federation is the only possible solution of their problems.” To better understand what Sir Arthur meant, we must first define the term regional integration. Although this term has been in existence for a long time, a precise definition is not easy to formulate. Generally it refers to the unification of nation states into a larger whole. On one hand, regional integration can be described as a dynamic process that entails a country’s willingness to share or unify into a larger whole. The degree to which it shares and what it shares determines the level of integration. There are different degrees of integration depending on predefined criteria.