Abstract: This article analyzes the phenomenon of the low level of institutionalization of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the factors that led to its under-institutionalization and its importance for the organization and its functioning. The author traces the format of work of the Community, its structure, level of correspondence to the initially claimed tasks, key moments of the history of its operation, and the results. At the macrolevel, the article examines the circumstance of establishment of the Community, purpose of its creation and questions of its activity. The author also covers the problem of the clash of interests of the Latin American countries and the United States, functioning of the Organization of American States, as well as misbalances in relationship between the two Americas. The question of the fundamental idea of CELAC and factors of its preservation in the condition of under-institutionalization is examined. A conclusion is made about the place and role of CELAC within the structure of regional configuration of Latin American subsystem; about the indicated system as such; and principles of creation and operation of the Community.

Abstract: The article examines the regional processes in the Western Hemisphere in the context of their development and competition throughout their history. The author pays special attention to their current state. The movements of "pan-Americanism" and "Latin Americanism" as well as their embodiment in the regional configuration of the Western Hemisphere in General and Latin America in particularare the central issuesof the study. The article outlines the factors of their development and interrelations in an attempt to identify their underlying patterns; to determine more precisely the nature of the current situation in this macro-region; to categorize the ongoing processes in the Western Hemisphere more clearly; and to facilitate their theoretical and practical study through optimization of the set of concepts. In particular, the author propose the concept of dynamic balance as definition of the form of interrelations between the pan-American and Latin American vectors of development of the Hemisphere's regional configuration which is different from the concepts of "cyclicity" and other forms of explanation of the occurring processes proposed in the past. The article concludes that the position of dynamic balance in the Western Hemisphere is objectively inevitable in the current conditions, it describes its key determinants and patterns, mechanisms of its stability and the possibilities of change.