A Study Of The Role Of Subnational Governments In National Diplomacy

The end of the Cold War accelerated the formation of a global society as the state type has become no barrier to international communication. A genuine global market has taken shape and the momentum of globalization has been ever increasing. This trend has made it possible for non-state entities to play an ever-growing role in the international community, coupled with their ever-expanding role in national diplomacy. Provincial governments are one type of the major actors in this trend.The political nature of the provincial governments determines the ever-growing importance of their place in the national diplomacy, which is generally administered by the central government. The study of the role of subnational governments in national diplomacy has become a very important subject of IR research. This paper picks out four aspects for an analysis of the role played by the subnational governments in national diplomacy: the political position of the subnational governments, the economic and cultural power of the subnational governments, the international environment and the power relations between the provincial and central governments. Based on the case study of Shanghai Municipal Government, the paper is a diachronic study of the influence of the provincial governments on the national diplomacy of a country. The paper is divided into five parts. The first part, the Introduction, is a description and discussion of the academic background of this issue and the evaluation of the study based on a survey of the previous research in this regard, stressing the importance of the study of the role of subnational governments in national diplomacy. The second part offers a definition of subnational governments and identifies the attributes of their role in foreign affairs. Based on the discussion of the second part, the third part is a discussion of the four aspects that determine the role of the subnational governments in national diplomacy: the political position of the subnational governments, the power of provincial governments, the international environment and the central-provincial relations. The fourth part of the paper, following the analysis of the four aspects in Chapter Three, is a historical study of the role of Shanghai Municipal Government in China's national diplomacy in different periods of time. The last part, concludes the main ideas of the paper, also discusses the issues in this area that call for further research and study.