This thesis seeks to answer the question whether Catalan paradiplomacy represents a challenge to
... more This thesis seeks to answer the question whether Catalan paradiplomacy represents a challenge to the national sovereignty of Spain by investigating its underlying legal framework, its de facto institutionalization, the main motives that drive said paradiplomacy, and how it is perceived by the Spanish government. Furthermore, it will attempt to uncover the causes that may have led to a confrontational paradiplomacy by highlighting two major changes that may have impacted the functioning of Catalan paradiplomacy: the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the 2010 election of Artur Mas to the Catalan government. Based on a longitudinal within-case analysis and using process tracing, this thesis will investigate whether these changes in institutional structure or guiding motive have led Catalan paradiplomacy to challenge the sovereignty of its parent state. The findings suggest that it was not the 2010 election of Artur Mas, but his re-election in 2012 that prompted a change in the guiding motive of Catalan paradiplomacy towards the international promotion of the process of self-determination. While the Statute facilitated the expansion of Catalan foreign affairs and thus functions as a domestic opportunity structure, Catalan paradiplomacy by and large takes place within the Spanish Constitutional framework.
Executive Summary: Two mega-regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are currently under negotiation... more Executive Summary: Two mega-regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are currently under negotiation: the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the China-led the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Both negotiations have set the completion date for late 2015, taking on the character of a "race to the finish". They have the potential to decisively shape the future of regional economic integration, trade liberalization and diplomatic relations in the Asia-Pacific. The Republic of Korea (ROK) has shown interest in joining the TPP, but has so far adopted a "wait and see" approach, avoiding a definitive choice.
This thesis seeks to answer the question whether Catalan paradiplomacy represents a challenge to
... more This thesis seeks to answer the question whether Catalan paradiplomacy represents a challenge to the national sovereignty of Spain by investigating its underlying legal framework, its de facto institutionalization, the main motives that drive said paradiplomacy, and how it is perceived by the Spanish government. Furthermore, it will attempt to uncover the causes that may have led to a confrontational paradiplomacy by highlighting two major changes that may have impacted the functioning of Catalan paradiplomacy: the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the 2010 election of Artur Mas to the Catalan government. Based on a longitudinal within-case analysis and using process tracing, this thesis will investigate whether these changes in institutional structure or guiding motive have led Catalan paradiplomacy to challenge the sovereignty of its parent state. The findings suggest that it was not the 2010 election of Artur Mas, but his re-election in 2012 that prompted a change in the guiding motive of Catalan paradiplomacy towards the international promotion of the process of self-determination. While the Statute facilitated the expansion of Catalan foreign affairs and thus functions as a domestic opportunity structure, Catalan paradiplomacy by and large takes place within the Spanish Constitutional framework.
Executive Summary: Two mega-regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are currently under negotiation... more Executive Summary: Two mega-regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are currently under negotiation: the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the China-led the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Both negotiations have set the completion date for late 2015, taking on the character of a "race to the finish". They have the potential to decisively shape the future of regional economic integration, trade liberalization and diplomatic relations in the Asia-Pacific. The Republic of Korea (ROK) has shown interest in joining the TPP, but has so far adopted a "wait and see" approach, avoiding a definitive choice.
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Papers by Ramón Lohmar
the national sovereignty of Spain by investigating its underlying legal framework, its de facto
institutionalization, the main motives that drive said paradiplomacy, and how it is perceived by the
Spanish government. Furthermore, it will attempt to uncover the causes that may have led to a
confrontational paradiplomacy by highlighting two major changes that may have impacted the
functioning of Catalan paradiplomacy: the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the 2010 election
of Artur Mas to the Catalan government. Based on a longitudinal within-case analysis and using
process tracing, this thesis will investigate whether these changes in institutional structure or
guiding motive have led Catalan paradiplomacy to challenge the sovereignty of its parent state. The
findings suggest that it was not the 2010 election of Artur Mas, but his re-election in 2012 that
prompted a change in the guiding motive of Catalan paradiplomacy towards the international
promotion of the process of self-determination. While the Statute facilitated the expansion of
Catalan foreign affairs and thus functions as a domestic opportunity structure, Catalan
paradiplomacy by and large takes place within the Spanish Constitutional framework.
the national sovereignty of Spain by investigating its underlying legal framework, its de facto
institutionalization, the main motives that drive said paradiplomacy, and how it is perceived by the
Spanish government. Furthermore, it will attempt to uncover the causes that may have led to a
confrontational paradiplomacy by highlighting two major changes that may have impacted the
functioning of Catalan paradiplomacy: the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the 2010 election
of Artur Mas to the Catalan government. Based on a longitudinal within-case analysis and using
process tracing, this thesis will investigate whether these changes in institutional structure or
guiding motive have led Catalan paradiplomacy to challenge the sovereignty of its parent state. The
findings suggest that it was not the 2010 election of Artur Mas, but his re-election in 2012 that
prompted a change in the guiding motive of Catalan paradiplomacy towards the international
promotion of the process of self-determination. While the Statute facilitated the expansion of
Catalan foreign affairs and thus functions as a domestic opportunity structure, Catalan
paradiplomacy by and large takes place within the Spanish Constitutional framework.