Paradiplomacy and Protodiplomacy

Abstract

The ability to conduct diplomatic relations is generally considered an exclusive attribute of sovereign states, but the participation of local and regional governments in international relations is becoming increasingly important worldwide. This phenomenon, also known as “paradiplomacy” has important historical antecedents but has acquired in recent decades a new prominence, as a result of the transnationalization of the global economy and the rise of global connectivity. Despite the initial reluctance of central/federal governments to accept this new reality, paradiplomacy is rapidly gaining institutional and legal recognition by states and international organizations in the most diverse geopolitical contexts. Beyond its instrumental value, paradiplomacy is always a form of political agency that facilitates the representation of collective identities at a global scale, expressing generally a will of greater political autonomy and sometimes even the aspiration to create a new independent state. In those cases in which this latter ambition prevails over any other possible political design, “paradiplomacy” mutates in to “protodiplomacy.” But protodiplomacy rarely produces the results expected by its proponents, namely to secure significant international support for a secessionist process, being more frequently conducive to international isolation and ethnopolitical conflict with the consequent economic, social, and political costs.

Keywords: diplomacy, paradiplomacy, protodiplomacy, de facto states, subnational