| Globalization-driven interdependence opened multiple channels for transnational communication,through which local authorities have achieved recognition as new actors in international relations.Argentina in the 1990 s welcomed its gold time of development along with the structural reform and wider opening-up practice,during which time the provinces and municipalities took the initiative to be involved in international agendas through both internal and external channels in specific matters such as technical cooperation,trade,and investment and tourism promotion.Such initiating actions have led to inter-local contacts transnationally.The constitutional reform in 1994 in fact granted the local authorities of the federal legitimate rights and interests in external activities.The encouraged local authorities since then were further engaged in international cooperative networks,seeking to realize their role in even broader agenda.Development demand-driven cooperation and financing behaviors as recognized subjects in the international credit markets were the commonest during this period of time.When it comes to the 21 st century,provinces and municipalities keep struggling to make new breakthroughs despite the ups and downs on the course of national development.The external affairs have not only benefited the local development and national foreign interests,but also brought about an accelerated transformation of Argentina’s overall diplomacy formerly conducted in a traditionally centralized way towards the more locally welcoming way of“federalism”.This paper performs case studies among the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires,the capital city,and a number of federal provinces and regions,of which the metropolis Buenos Aires has attached greater importance to exploiting its advantages in cultural and tourism resources to the full,aiming at becoming the next “Global City”,and exploring ways to develop city diplomacy in various fields such as local legislation,mechanism construction,international technical cooperation,and multilateral urban alliances.The capital through its external contacts has realized a great-leap-forward development of economy,especially in innovative industries and integrated its branding with the overall federal diplomacy by successfully hosting major international events such as the Youth Olympic Games and the G20 Leaders’ Summit.At the same time when the capital set the examples of central-local collaboration,other federal provinces seek their goals via regional mechanism which includes both competitive and cooperative elements.The provinces compete with each other in areas such as infrastructure development of their own interests,while on the other hand,they act jointly in areas of overlapping local interests,providing innovative mechanisms and serving as a model for local integration across borders.The flourishing of local authorities’ external activities in Argentina reflects the objective reality of indistinct boundaries between international and domestic issues;the development of local authorities’ external affairs profoundly shaped by the interactive influence of central-local relations,internal local-level relations,and relations between domestic and foreign issues.Through multi-perspective theoretical analysis,multi-dimensional interpretation,and observation of specific practical cases,this paper compares the history of the development of local external affairs in Argentina,summarizes the latest trends,and verifies hypothesis,with case facts,that economic factors are the primary motivating demand,that diplomatic dominance remain firmly in the hands of the federal government,and that constitution and law are the main tool to ensure the normative development.On this basis,policy recommendations are formulated to consolidate and improve the coordination and interaction mechanisms between the federal government and the local authorities,addressing the main shortcomings that have led to inadequate and inefficient central government consultations in practice. |
PDF Full Text Request