Central American Borders at the Core of the Regional Integration Process

International audienceAt the beginning of the 2000 decade, boundaries are at the heart of the Central American reality. Three of four conflicts listed for the American continent by the International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU) in 2004 were occurring in the isthmus. Since the end of the 1980s, the states of this area have initiated a process of democratic pacification and regional economic integration. The diplomatic relations maintained by these neighbouring states are an essential element of this process, yet their shared borders, so often an object of national tension, are still prone to conflict. Over the past few years, Central American borders have been the subject of new research, due to both renewed regional and increased world interest in this topic. This renewed interest is accompanied by Central American authorities' interest in encouraging binational co-operation. The aim of this paper is to examine the Central American boundary-design process and present the causes of the still-existing border disputes, with the intention of understanding better what is at stake today in the promotion of trans-border co-operation on the scale of the Central American region. Rather than focus on the classic territorial view of boundaries as dividers and as mechanisms for defusing conflicts between states, this article concentrates on the awakening of political wills that has resulted in the emergence of transnational relations and thus given value to Central American borders as privileged spaces of interaction. The Central American case is used to try to illustrate how the synthesis of the theories of boundary studies and border studies can be both positive and stimulating