1. Dept. of Border Region Studies
Para-, proto-, secondary diplomacy, Nebenaußenpolitik – border regions’ international activities within multi-level governance and cross-border integration European and North American approaches
Martin Klatt, PhD.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Border Region Studies
Sønderborg

2. Outline Cross-border cooperation as a form of secondary diplomacy
European and North American examples
Governance: problem solving or peace building?
German – Danish approach
US-Canada
”Peace Arch etc.
Roll-back after 9/
Consequences

3. Para-, proto- diplomacy, Nebenaußenpolitik
International relations of federal states, regions, provinces, municipalities
Secondary diplomacy, ”non-state” diplomacy
Difficult term
Formalized (agreements, treaties, representations)
Informalized (networks, working relations)

4. Cross-border governance in Europe and North America
”State of the art”:
North America: flow oriented, functional, non-formalized (i.e. Blatter/Clement 2000, Blatter 2001)
Economical/Ecological motives dominate and/or steer cooperation
Europe: territorial approach, formalized – euroregions, EGTC (Scott, Perkmann, Paasi …)
Create cross-border regions, territories
Political motives dominate
”peace building”
Europe of the people
Bottom-up Europeanization

5. Europe of (Cross-Border) Regions?
Keating: regionalization of power is not the aim of EU Regional Policies, nor in the interest of nation states*
Schmitt-Egner: Transnational Regionalism – regions develop cross-border action space
Multi-level governance: Regions and Cross-border Regions have become important players in the EU’s system of multilevel governance
M. Keating: (2008) A Quarter Century of the Europe of Regions, Regional and Federal Studies 18 (5),

6. A Europe of Cross-Border Regions (CBRs)?
Source: Association of European Border Regions

7. Sønderjylland-Schleswig – A cross-border Region?
Region Sønderjylland-Schleswig was founded as a euroregion in 1997
Historic reference to the Duchy of Schleswig
Territorial reference

8. Peace building? Narrative connected with the minority situation
Applied on the people-to-people activities

9. ”Der må være en grænse!” May 1997

10. Fl. Tageblatt, 9 May 2011

11. Governance Restructured in 2011 Infocenter
Facilitator for cross-border projects
No clear political function

12. Framework of German-Danish coop.
South-Western Baltic Sea Transregional Area Implementig New Geography (STRING)
Cooperation Schleswig-Holstein – Region South Denmark
Border Triangle
Region Sønderjylland-Schleswig
Interreg Germany-Denmark

13. Familiarity?
Poll in 2012 (Region South Denmark, 1,000 people north and south of the border)
75% agreed at least ”somewhat”: regional Germans and Danes have much in common
75% did not have family or friends on the other side of the border
So how do they know?

14. US-Canada – border of peace?
Narrative of the longest, unguarded border of the world
Rollback since 9/
Smart Border
Security paradigm
Total control
Pre-check, EDL, preferred traveller, NEXUS etc.
Local influence????

15. North American CBRs*
*Govt. of Canada, Policy Research Initiative, 2008
Method: primarily economic relations (trade)

16. Pacific North West Economic Region (PNWER)
”The gold standard of US-Canadian relations”
Foundation, created by Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington State, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, North West Territories
One big conference/year
Several working groups
Small secretariate in Seattle (WA)
Politics, business, academia
Governance: problem solving, case oriented

17. International Mobility and Trade Corridor Program
International working group along I 5 corridor
Many stakeholders: from Federal institutions to first nation tribes – mostly public
Monthly meetings
Aim: improving transport and mobility
Governance: informing, discussing, cross-border problem solving – no influence on the general agenda (security paradigm)

18. Cascadia Mayors’ Council
Working group of mayors (municipal) in Cascadia
Started in 1998, suspended in 2007 (last meeting in 2006)
Great visions, no results
Informative meetings, some resolutions (against tougher border control)
Depended on personal commitment
Suspended due to lack of interest/tangible results

19. Environmental cooperation
Salish Sea Eco System Conference (initiators: EPA, Environment Canada)
Annual conference involving different stakeholders (politics, business, NGOs, academia)
Critical dialogue, forum of information exchange
Abbotsford Sumas Aquifer International Task Force
Cross-border water reservoir
Cooperation driven by necessity
Washington State – BC cross-border task force
Elapsed
Dependent on personal commitment
Each party has to solve their own issues first

20. Cross-border governance
Multi-level, low authority
Stakeholder oriented
Project oriented
Dependent on commitment and necessity
Low level institutionalisation
No special focus on cross-border territoriality

21. Diplomacy? Good, multi-level networks
Competing with the sovereignty principle – but do they win?
Reproducing borders through cooperation
Peace-building?
Reversibility (9/11, Danish border controls)
Continuous unfamiliarity (DE-DK)
Reduced interaction (US-CA)

22. References
Blatter, J. and N. Clement (2000). Transborder Collaboration in Europe and North America: Explaining Similarities and Differences. Borders, Regions and People. M. v. d. Velde and H. v. Houtum. London, Pion:
BLATTER, J. K. (2001). "Debordering the World of States:: Towards a Multi-Level System in Europe and a Multi-Polity System in North America? Insights from Border Regions." European Journal of International Relations 7(2):