Paradiplomacy

Reflections on the Foreign Policy and International Relations of Regions

Lecours, André

Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 DeMaisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, Quebec H3G lM8, Canada (E-mail: [email protected])

^*André Lecours is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University (Montréal, Canada). His central research interests are nationalism, federalism and West European politics. His current research program focuses on the international relations of regional governments.

International Negotiation 7(1):p 91-114, 2002.

The study of paradiplomacy, concerning the international activity of regional governments, opens the door to a new set of actors and issues for international negotiations. A theoretical framework based in historical institutionalism is established and several examples of paradiplomatic activity are described. The article reflects on these new international actors, external-internal linkages, and expanding the boundaries of the field of international relations and negotiation.