WORLD INTEGRATION DAY

The term “integration” refers to a process whereby the quality of relations among autonomous social units  changes in such a way as to erode the autonomy of each and make it part of a larger aggregate. In specifically political discussions the term is reserved for the analysis of such changes among more or less “sovereign” political units, and in the study of international relations the term is confined to the analysis of cumulatively changing relations among states, resulting in their acceptance of some new central authority. Historically, such authority has most commonly been imposed by military force—by a conquering group upon the vanquished. In order to distinguish “integration” from the forcible establishment of empires we must specify that the erosion of local autonomy may be based on deliberate and voluntary decisions by actors or result from unintended consequences of such decisions, but it may never rest on force.