International economic integration is not a recent phenomenon; its roots can be traced back to the Roman Empire. This informative volume departs from the conventional short-term analysis and takes a long-term view of the process, offering perspectives that are both detailed and diverse. Author Dennis McCarthy examines seven types of organizations that exemplify international economic integration (colonial empires, merchant associations, religious empires, criminal empires, free trade areas, customs unions and common markets), and representative examples of each type are analyzed in a...