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Foreign Development Policy of Constituent Units: Trends, Challenges and Lessons Learned Number 2

Mr. Carnago is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain. He has widely published on development theory, decentralized cooperation and the international relations of constituent units.

His paper is of particular relevance as it comes at a time when constituent units from federal countries are becoming more and more active both as donors and partners facilitating, along with state agencies, multilateral institutions, and NGOs the emergence of what can be called the decentralization of the international aid regime.

Nonetheless it is possible to foresee that as result of the increasing relevance of constituent units’ development assistance activities, more effective and fluid intergovernmental coordination will be required, as well as important adjustments in the international development policy mechanisms.

Forum vice-president Rupak Chattopadhyay, who heads the organization’s governance programs, said of the work that: “Carnago’s paper is an important contribution to our understanding of how federations operate. He deals with a hitherto unexplored, but increasingly important facet of sub-national engagement in foreign relations/policy.”