| Summary/Abstract |
BY THE END of the 20th century, foreign relations maintained by individual constituent territories of various countries had become a generally accepted element of the global political system. Practically ever since politicians and experts have been focusing their attention on the relationship between such contacts and Russia's foreign policy as the presence of individual Russian territories in the international arena was seen as a potential challenge to the centralized character of the country's foreign policy, to its security, and to its territorial integrity.1 Foreign contacts established by the administration of constituents regions of countries in seeking greater autonomy and solutions to regional political problems have been labeled "protodiplomacy."2
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