Search

The mainstream literature on global cities tends to explain the internationalization of cities almost exclusively from the perspective of recent developments in global capitalism, developments that have put cities at the heart of an increasingly globalized, financialized, and deregulated world economy. The internationalization of these so-called global cities is seen as a response to, and is conditioned by, external, and mainly economic, exigencies. Research on the foreign relations of city governments has followed in this tradition, with a predominant focus on the global drivers and manifestations, as well as the systemic implications of this phenomenon. Little academic attention has been given to the domestic contexts within which city governments develop and exercise their international agency. This paper is inspired by the emergence of alternative accounts in the global cities literature, which have underscored the importance of the domestic context in making sense of the contemporary internationalization of cities, to analyze the domestic sources of the City of Johannesburg's foreign relations from 2011 to 2016. While acknowledging Johannesburg's global cities ambition as a major driver of the city government's international relations during this period, we identify and analyze a set of local and national factors that equally inspired and conditioned the city's foreign engagements. These include the huge socio-economic and spatial divide that continues to define the city, the influence of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its doctrine of progressive internationalism, as well as the then mayor's internationalist outlook and domestic political ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's coastal cities have been playing a pivotal role in international relations through culture, commerce, and connectivity since the hoary past. In modern times, coastal cities such as Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on the Arabian Coast and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on the Bay of Bengal have been active actors in international affairs. While Mumbai has been the hub of international trade and commerce, Kolkata has been the junction of cultural bonhomie with Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries, which gained more traction due to cross-border movements of technology, information, education, trade and finance, and artistic tools bolstered by the New Economic Policy beginning in the early 1990s. Indian states and metropolitan cities are enhancing their positions in international affairs with tangible gains. Mumbai is referred to as India's financial capital and the home to the headquarters of great global business houses and financial organisations. Similarly, Kolkata is known as the cultural capital of India (Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, Shanti Niketan, Bengali folk art and culture etc.) and a destination for foreign tourists, artists and curious researchers. This paper examines the growth and impact of city diplomacy in India through the prism of federalism in advancing local interests in international politics. It attempts to assess the role of Indian cities from a comparative perspective in the conduct of city diplomacy from economic and cultural aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the study of Colombian foreign policy. Specifically, it applies foreign policy analysis (fpa) methods to the study of Colombian international politics and international relations. Embarking from the analytical framework of International Regimes, the work describes a specific approach to their study, and thereafter traces the process that preceded Colombia's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd). It analyzes how the decision to join the oecd is best understood as a foreign policy strategy on the part of the national government. The paper also offers a preliminary evaluation of the process of institutional adaptation accompanying oecd membership and its impact on Colombian society. The article is based on the analysis of primary sources related to the decision-making process carried out by both the national government and the oecd. Additionally, it uses a variety of other sources to illuminate a foreign policy strategy implemented in a complicated international context, one only made more difficult by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this manner, the paper discusses the challenges and importance of oecd membership, including the delay of its formalization to the point of coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic. Such unfortunate timing has likely contributed to the perception among many Colombians, of the fruitlessness of membership. While indeed complex and challenging, the paper seeks to present the situation of Colombian membership in more nuanced light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the 21st century, an unprecedented theoretical change in perspective took place, and non-Western theoretical approaches began to be developed as an alternative to traditional theories of International Relations. In this way, some specialists began to debate about the emergence and consolidation of a "Chinese School of International Relations", based mostly on the Asian culture. The aim of this paper is to present the main streams of international studies in China, among which the reverse, obverse and interactive approaches stand out. Likewise, it is particularly intended to understand the conception of international cooperation of each of these approaches. In addition, it is intended to highlight the evolution of international studies in China and departs from the assumption that the production and changes of the axis of international studies follow the rise and geographical position of the great powers. In the Chinese case, they have been growing in parallel with its international prominence and the attainment of great power status. The theoretical framework proposed for this research takes as a starting point the so-called non-western theories, that is, all those theories that are not part of the mainstream of the Western International Relations Theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to analyze the extent to which the decolonial perspective is reflected in the teaching and the research in the area of International Relations (IR) in Brazil. The first part is conceptual and discusses the meanings of Decoloniality and its interfaces with the area of IR. Then, the empirical analysis is presented. Documents, data and studies were used to analyze Brazilian undergraduate and graduate courses in this area. We found some initial advances with the inclusion of debates on Ethnic-Racial Relations in undergraduate courses, the constitution of research groups and the existence of some (few) doctoral theses on the subject. However, several significant challenges were found for Decoloniality to assert itself as a relevant axis in Brazilian IR studies. Among them, the small insertion of these contents on the (undergraduate) curriculum, the centrality of the state-centered theories, racism and institutional resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the most recent development of the international relations field in Latin America. It relies mainly on a biblio-metric analysis of the main Latin American journals that publish related studies, and on a qualitative analysis of leading publications from some of the region's Political Science and International Relations departments. Without claiming to be an exhaustive study of the state of the field in the region, the paper includes new and useful information to build a reflection on the field's weaknesses, strengths and pending tasks. The work concludes with a series of reflections and suggestions that seek to highlight the importance of further theoretical and -particularly- methodological discussions to strengthen the study of international politics in -and from- Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National governments are keenly aware of the need for investment in space. Canada, as a formal cooperating state in the European Space Agency (ESA), and Germany, as a leading member state of ESA, are interlinked in Europe's space endeavours. Beyond ESA, Germany and Canada additionally have a strong history of bilateral cooperation on a range of space projects. This paper discusses the novel interdependencies between clear national and now supranational space policies, using the examples of the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The agreement covers most aspects of the EU-Canada bilateral economic relationship and includes space. The paper focuses on international space policies, strategic bilateral co-operation, and technical accomplishments. It takes a closer look at German-Canadian collaboration in space programs and offers some reflection on the effect of both the EU and ESA's transatlantic involvement in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the European Union's global role as a main international actor on the basis of the components of power, the dimensions of global governance and its prospects as a regional project to manage to have a reading of their participation in the future international system. Within these future prospects, the role of the soft power of the EU will be highlighted as a civilian and normative power in global governance with new actors, interests and divergent values. This work is based on the hypothesis that the relational shift of power in international society is causing geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics conflicting with approaches to an effective multilateralism. Then the paper tries to answer or at least tries to shed some light on questions such as: Can the EU maintain its relevance as an international player in this changing world? Will it maintain relevance in their values and interests as a regional project? Should European international advocacy strategy be based simply on the field of soft power and effective multilateralism? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the changes occurred since the VI EU-LAC Summit, in Madrid in May 2010, on the relationship between the European Union and Latin America. A change continued with the Celac-EU Summit, held in January 2013, which presents evidence of bi-regional strategy and the full import of the most significant commitments to build that relationship: regional integration and social cohesion. Latin America and the European Union should strengthen their bond and extrapolate on other institutions and settings of the current post-Cold War geopolitical order. A scenario where they share views and concerns and whose response, in any case, must come from a joint position and shared perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the electoral crisis of 2010-2011, this paper presents, in a synthetic fashion, a political genealogy of this situation and the consequences that the end of this armed conflict is going to have on the Ivoirian state and international society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1980, Venezuelan income per capita in dollars was 1.4 times higher than that of Colombia, but in 2007, this ratio was reversed and the Colombian income was 1.1 higher than that of Venezuela. This result deserves an explanation, as both countries made similar structural reforms to allow a free economy and to integrate with international markets. This paper aims to explain this result. The main conclusion is that the State-entrepreneur relationship and the real exchange rate management are crucial for the explanation of the difference in the economic performance of both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to many analysts, the Nation-State is undergoing a deep crisis, because the effectiveness of its power is being broken up in three directions: upward, as a consequence of globalization and supranationalization; horizontally due to the dismantling of the Welfare State, privatization and deregulation; and downward, because of decentralization and the empowerment of the regional and local entities. According to these interpretations, the joint action of such trends would be eroding the traditional competences of the Nation State and determining the irrelevance of this political entity in the global dynamics of power and the economy. This paper analyses the impact of the above mentioned trends in the Andean countries. It concludes by stating that in this context the processes aimed at reducing the role of the State, have paradoxically turned into the widening of its sphere of action in other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the European Union's global role as a main international actor on the basis of the components of power, the dimensions of global governance and its prospects as a regional project to manage to have a reading of their participation in the future international system. Within these future prospects, the role of the soft power of the EU will be highlighted as a civilian and normative power in global governance with new actors, interests and divergent values. his work is based on the hypothesis that the relational shift of power in international society is causing geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics conflicting with approaches to an effective multilateralism. hen the paper tries to answer or at least tries to shed some light on questions such as: Can the EU maintain its relevance as an international player in this changing world? Will it maintain relevance in their values and interests as a regional project? Should European international advocacy strategy be based simply on the field of soft power and effective multilateralism? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]