ABSTRACT
International activities of noncentral governments rarely make the first page of national dailies. The increase in the number and intensity of subnational entries by noncentral authorities onto the international scene is of relatively vintage. An intemeighbor competition or rivalry may poison the center-to-center relations, and local or transborder provincial politics may be used to affect the conduct of national foreign policy. The forms, goals, intensity, frequency and importance of noncentral governmental entries onto the international stage vary greatly. The various initiatives taken by noncentral governments on the international scene have so far assumed four distinct yet interconnected forms: transborder regional microdiplomacy, transregional microdiplomacy, global paradiplomacy, protodiplomacy. Transregional microdiplomacy is the term used to describe connections and negotiations between noncentral governments that are not contiguous; they are separated by other provincial/state jurisdictions firom the international border. Some noncentral governments have established foreign contacts simply to emulate other subnational successes in attracting foreign investment or manufacturing plants to their territory.
