Master in International Relations of Governments and Local Actors

For several decades, one of the most important changes that has occurred in the international system has been the growing prominence of new international actors, such as local governments (state and municipal), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and interest groups. civil society (companies, unions, political parties, media), among others. This change has disrupted the classic approach of the discipline of International Relations, which considered the State as the only actor for the analysis of the international system. Even though the design of a country's foreign policy continues to be the responsibility of the nation-state, international relations open the field of action and analysis to a great diversity of actors, a phenomenon known as Paradiplomacy, which has gained considerable importance. interest in the political and academic fields.
Globalization, understood as an economic, technological, political, social and cultural process of global reach, and which has its manifestations in the emergence of policies of democratization, decentralization and structural reforms, as well as growing interdependence between countries - whose expressions have had unprecedented scope since the end of the 20th century – has led to great international activity by new subnational, national and supranational actors, which have been the subject of study by academics from various institutions.
The government of the state of Jalisco, for example, is a pioneer in Mexico in terms of institutionalizing its ties with abroad. After the political alternation of 1995, an International Affairs Office was created to coordinate the different actions carried out by the state through the design of an international projection strategy, with a view to inserting itself into the global context. This initiative paved the way at the national level and has served as a guide for other federal entities to design and develop their international activity; Furthermore, it has raised awareness among the Federal Government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about the need to open spaces to meet the demands of subnational governments and other civil society actors.
The University of Guadalajara, attentive to the development of new challenges, also assumes the challenge of addressing the study of the phenomenon of Paradiplomacy. Proof of this is the creation of the Master's Degree in International Relations of Governments and Local Actors, which since 2017 has been dedicated to training its students in this new dynamic of internationalization. This unique postgraduate degree in Mexico covers the need to train specialists who analyze the foreign action of local actors and their confluence in Mexican foreign policy. Likewise, it provides practical tools about the motives, strategies, forms of action, levels of participation and involvement, as well as the obtaining and use of human, financial and technological resources, by the different subnational actors that participate in the international scenario.