This is the first comparative study of an increasingly important phenomenon: the international role and activities of component units of major liberal democratic federal states. The work identifies common themes and explores the reasons for the proliferation of paradiplomatic activities by these non-traditional actors on the international scene. Examining the nature and history of foreign policy federalism, the work focuses on the international role of subnational units in Austria, Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland, and the United States, and assesses the implications of these paradiplomatic activities for the conduct of foreign policy in each federation.

Ivo D. Duchacek: Perforated Sovereignties: towards a typology of new actors in international relations; Panayotis Soldatos: An explanatory framework for the study of federated states as foreign policy actors; John Kincaid: Constituent diplomacy in federal polities and the nation-state: conflict and co-operation; John Ravenhill: Australia; Anton Pelinka: Austria; Yves Lejeune: Belgium; Elliot J. Feldman, & Lily Gardner: Provincial foreign policies and Raison d'Etat; Hans J. Michelmann: The Federal Republic of Germany; Luzius Wildhaber: Switzerland; Earl H. Fry: The United States of America; Hans J. Michelmann: Conclusion