Subnational Governments as International Actors: Constituent Diplomacy in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest

HE SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS has expanded dra­ matically as global interdependence has increased, encompass­ ing policy areas such as environmental pollution, human rights, immigration, monetary and trade instabilities, and sustainable development. Unlike traditional strategic/security matters, these new issues are intermestic in nature; that is, they are simultaneously, profoundly and inseparably both domestic and international.1 It is therefore not surprising that subnational actors at the provincial and municipal levels have become increasingly involved in international activities. Political scientists often use such terms asparadiplomacy and diplomacy to distinguish these international activities of subnational governments from the more traditional nation state diplo­ macy.2 As John Kincaid has noted, to date there is no settled termi­ nology describing the international activities of or 'subnationaT governments.3 For him, constituent diplomacy is intended as a neutral descriptor, one that avoids the implication that the activities of governments are necessarily inferior, ancillary, or sup­ plemental to the 'high polities' of nation-state diplomacy.4 In the first part of this article, we present a typology to illustrate the varied forms of international relations conducted by provincial