Paradiplomacy practices in Indonesia: Comparative analysis ofAceh‐Quebec

Abstract

This article aims to understand paradiplomacy practices in Indonesia by identifying the characteristics of Aceh's paradiplomacy and reviewing it comparatively with the paradiplomacy of Quebec, Canada. The data was collected by documentation study, interview, and literature search. The practice of paradiplomacy in Indonesia is framed in a unitary state system in which the central government still dominates regional foreign activities and the regional awareness for the need of foreign relations is still minimal. This is different from the Province of Quebec in Canada wherein Quebec is one of the most active provinces to take part abroad for the fulfillment of their regional interests. We conclude that the characteristics of paradiplomacy are determined by the institutionalization of paradiplomacy in the regions and the pattern of relations between the central and regional government which usually refers to the form of the state whether unitary or federalist.