PARADIPLOMACY MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN CATALONIA AND ACEH
Abstract
This article focuses on paradiplomatic management in Aceh Special Province, Indonesia, and Catalonia, Spain, as a comparative study. The two different regions have at least two similar characteristics. Firstly, both are recognized by central government as a widely autonomous provinces compared to other provinces, and also obtained the wider autonomy in the same period 2006. Secondly, the two regions also have same problems related to the existance of revolutionary groups that strongly attempt to withdraw from the central governments. In fact, paradiplomatic activism in Aceh and Catalonia have different experiences and results in terms of effectiveness as this was indicated by the existence of international networks, international agreements, and diplomatic relations. Catalonia is arguably more progressive expanding their paradiplomatic affairs with high outcomes, while Aceh is observed with a low result. This qualitative research is set to find out the pattern of paradiplomatic management in both local governments. The main objective is to identify similarities and differences of paradiplomatic patterns, and to scrutinize the paradiplomatic activism pertaining to the instrument of political movements in both regions. The research findings confirmed that the patterns of Paradiplomacy management in both local governments are typically similar, and influenced by the dynamic of local political movements, and they demonstrated that paradiplomatic activism is as a part of instrument in political movements although both in Catalonia and Aceh have different issues.