Considering regional integration from the margins: The importance and challenges of the sub-state dimension in Latin America based on the Chilean-Argentine experience

Integration has been studied and practiced from the centrality of the State towards supranational integration mechanisms. However, our regional reality, which is shaped by the inability of States to develop strong integration, helps explain the failure of the process. Today, integration and border studies seek to reverse the vertical relationship from the State to the local through the articulation of sub-state mechanisms such as Border and Integration Committees, which based on their characteristics, should be considered the first and most important link in the regional integration chain. We propose that small-scale mechanisms such as Border and Integration Committees have proven effective for resolving and identifying border issues and are more flexible when it comes to adapting to the changing scenarios of the regional political landscape. However, they have not reached a sufficient level of autonomy with respect to key state decisions, and as such, have not become more relevant in regard to influencing and forging a relationship with the regional process. This highlights the importance of an approach that can include civil society in paradiplomatic actions.