• NAFTA
• Regionalism
• Transatlantic Relationship
• UE
• United States
• World Order

This research aims to compare the competing regionalisms and interregional policies of the European Union and those of the United States, by addressing a crucial question: what is the impact of the “new regional” phenomenon on the transatlantic relationship? Starting from the EU-US post Cold-War diverging structural trends, the thesis will account for the opposing interpretations of sovereignty which shape alternative approaches to regionalism. The analysis will then focus on the “intra-regional” dimension of the regionalization processes in Europe and North America and on their global implications. At first, the focus will be on the political and economical factors that might account for the EU/NAFTA “institutionalisation gap”. Next, the alternative world order models behind the EU and the US interregional strategies will be outlined (Pax Europaea vs. Pax Americana ). The main submission resulting from this research is that the EU and the US competing regional and interregional strategies will prompt a “systemic” tension on the transatlantic relationship.