Description
The San Diego-Tijuana border region has undergone transformative political, economic, and social integration in the age of globalization. These changes have given rise to regional institutions, governmental partnerships, and other cross-border apparatuses that capitalize on the economic might and political significance of the border while acknowledging its unique challenges. The existence of transboundary issues surrounding water management and protection across this international watershed, particularly within the Tijuana River Estuary, has provided a similar cooperative arena for local and regional actors to establish and maintain mutualistic partnerships. The impetus for regional actors to tackle pragmatic issues that remain a lesser concern for far-off central governments raises key questions about the future of transboundary cooperation. As cities have risen in prominence in their shares of global population, economic power, and social clout, local actors may be uniquely poised to tackle transnational challenges with specialized practical approaches to diplomacy. The opinions and perspectives offered by actors at multiple levels of government suggest that such cooperation has represented an increasingly valuable tool for tackling environmental issues. Much deliberation has occurred in recent years on the viability of ?city diplomacy? or paradiplomatic engagement that exists among municipal-level entities. Despite naysayers, the formal and informal institutional integration that has occurred among public and private entities in the San Diego-Tijuana border region lends both credence to and guidelines for the viability of such political partnerships.
Paradiplomacy and Transboundary Water in the Tijuana River Valley
The San Diego-Tijuana border region has undergone transformative political, economic, and social integration in the age of globalization. These changes have given rise to regional institutions, governmental partnerships, and other cross-border apparatuses that capitalize on the economic might and political significance of the border while acknowledging its unique challenges. The existence of transboundary issues surrounding water management and protection across this international watershed, particularly within the Tijuana River Estuary, has provided a similar cooperative arena for local and regional actors to establish and maintain mutualistic partnerships. The impetus for regional actors to tackle pragmatic issues that remain a lesser concern for far-off central governments raises key questions about the future of transboundary cooperation. As cities have risen in prominence in their shares of global population, economic power, and social clout, local actors may be uniquely poised to tackle transnational challenges with specialized practical approaches to diplomacy. The opinions and perspectives offered by actors at multiple levels of government suggest that such cooperation has represented an increasingly valuable tool for tackling environmental issues. Much deliberation has occurred in recent years on the viability of ?city diplomacy? or paradiplomatic engagement that exists among municipal-level entities. Despite naysayers, the formal and informal institutional integration that has occurred among public and private entities in the San Diego-Tijuana border region lends both credence to and guidelines for the viability of such political partnerships.