Touched on in the previous article, but interesting that Trump's ignorance has led to stronger ties between cities:
The president-elect can build on the alliances and networks forged by cities and mayors over the last four years to restore U.S. relationships globally.
www.bloomberg.com
"Take, for example, the way that city halls were brought directly into the increasingly tense U.S.-China relationship in October 2019, when, as a reciprocal act to Chinese policy shifts, the Trump Administration
altered the regulations for contact between Chinese diplomatic officials and U.S. city governments. The new policy required Chinese officials to inform the State Department in advance of any meetings with local government officials, fundamentally altering relationships that local officials, particularly those charged with commercial development, had spent years if not decades building. While a State Department letter to the U.S. Conference of Mayors said that the new policy did not require local officials in the U.S. to seek federal approval before meeting with Chinese diplomats, there was confusion at the local level with regards to the new regulations. Do Whatsapp conversations or emails constitute meetings? What about formal gatherings at Chinese consulates? Are city officials responsible for checking that meetings have been cleared?
In an era of tumultuous geopolitics, there will be more such policy shifts in the future, and cities can be better informed and supported with regards to meeting the coming changes. Geopolitics have returned to city hall to be sure — and they will continue to do so."
Over four chaotic years, the current administration undermined ongoing international climate negotiations, ignored the U.S. commitment to the
United Nations 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development, and cast doubt on long-standing alliances, such as NATO. It’s no wonder that the U.S. image — as an asset and a component of so-called soft power — is at a nadir.
"But President Donald Trump did not succeed entirely in destroying the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement: In 2017, more than 300 U.S. cities pledged to uphold the climate pact at the local level. Similarly, many cities have been engaging in a variety of efforts that have helped to preserve, or to build anew, transnational relationships that the White House seemed determined to shred. While the administration attacked the United Nations at nearly every turn,
New York City has driven the voluntary local review movement for the Sustainable Development Goals. And the
City of Los Angeles built new and stronger relationships with Mexico, the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner, even as that White House vilified the country and its people. So-called “
anarchist jurisdictions” turn out to be capable of making coherent, mature foreign policy. "