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Russian Sub-National Actors: Paradiplomacies in the European and Russian Arctic
The chapter examines the engagement of Russian northern subnational units in ‘paradiplomacy’ as a form of problem-solving and in order to generate sustainable development. The forms of policy covered include the making of direct agreements with international partners, attracting foreign investment, creating regions’' positive image, cooperation with international organizations, establishing representative offices in foreign countries, city-twinning, participation in Euro-regions and other sub-regional arrangements as well as the capitalizing on national diplomacy and federal infrastructures. In particular the aim is to explore their challenging of state-centered spatiality and to identify the underlying motives as well as the main strategies and instruments employed and to chart the institutional settings chosen.