| The study is about how subnational organizations involved in international trade (SnOs)--a little known group of sub-state transnational actors--have been contributing to the development of national economies, international trade, and the stability of the global system. Since SnOs have been largely ignored in the literature and in political practice, this study seeks to expand understanding and knowledge of how and why SnOs help nation-states achieve their national economic development objectives and help them cooperate and compete with other nation-states in the global system. Since SnOs play a productive role in national economic development, international economic growth, and cooperation between nation-states, it is hoped that an expanded understanding of SnOs and their international relationships will help improve relations between nation-states and reduce stress in the global system.;This exploratory, interdisciplinary study describes the emergence and proliferation of SnOs as a reaction to a global system under stress. SnOs are seen as being increasingly involved in international trade as an institutional reaction to the globalization of industry, internationalization of competition, and the integrating and merging of national economies. Their international relations have been expanded by the development and proliferation of advanced communications, production, and transportation technologies, and facilitated by the increasing flow of products, services, and people across national borders. The proliferation of SnOs in the international system is also related to the decentralization of national political authority and regionalization of national economies as nation-states adapt to changes brought on by the imperatives of globalization. Examples from China, Germany, the United States, and Japan indicate that SnOs are becoming more important in domestic and international contests while national governments are becoming less directly involved in economic and international trade development.;The possibility that SnOs can facilitate cooperation between nation-states is attributed to the fact that they voluntarily develop and maintain political and economic relationships with their foreign counterparts for mutual interest and benefit in a "positive-sum" game. It also seems probable that SnOs will be more likely to enhance national competitive advantage when they are coordinated by their national governments. |
