In case studies and comparative analysis of Canada, the United States, France, Switzerland, and Belgium, a distinguished international group of scholars looks at how and why provinces, states, cantons, and large municipalities increasingly seek access to foreign sources of wealth and technological information. The first book to explore the subject, this new study examines the effects of these initiatives on the traditional conduct of foreign policy and foreign trade and the implications of the continued "perforation" of national boundaries already subject to an unprecedented flow of foreign products, cultural influences, and visitors, as well as environmental pollution from abroad.