Friends in the region: A comparative study on friendship building in regional integration

Abstract

The role of international friendship in regional integration- be it as one of encouraging integration or as its by-product- tends to be overshadowed by (realist) assumptions of naked self-interest. This article aims to open up a space for friendship in the study of regional integration, by exploring the structuration of a series of speech acts and institutional facts that can be interpreted as signs of engagement in, and proofs of, friendship. In doing this, it puts forward a new analytical perspective and methodological framework. The case studies chosen to illustrate the analysis- the Franco-German and the Argentine-Brazilian dyads- reflect the historical meaning of the experience of moving away from enmity/antagonism towards building relationships based on mutual trust, which put these dyads at the centre of regional integration processes. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.