Building on the ideas presented in his recent book of the same title (Oxford University Press, 2011), Professor Pastor will examine the forces that bind the continent together and the benefits to be gained from thinking in North American terms, making a case for closer cooperation and coordination across national boundaries in the region. He will also offer some thoughts on a comparison between the European and North American regional integration projects and on the relationship between the North American “core” of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and the smaller nations of Central America and the Caribbean. Professor Pastor’s presentation promises to make an important contribution to the discussion on the usefulness of examining the North American continent as a region that the North American Studies Programme has sought to foster in its inaugural year.