The growning international activities of the American states

This article examines state responses to the changing global economy, by exploring the growth of state international economic activities, variations in these activities, factors promoting and limiting state involvement in international affairs, and implications of these trends for the implementation of state economic development policies. Global economic competition, a changing domestic political and economic landscape, the modernization of state government, and increasingly open international markets have inspired states to increase their international activities. Consequently, dramatic growth in state international activities has occurred in the fields of trade promotion and economic development. Yet, state and local involvement in international affairs has not been universally accepted nor consistently funded.