The City Diplomacy List

BOOKS

• Amiri, S. & Sevin, E. (2020). City Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan.

This book delves into city diplomacy through theoretical/analytical approaches in addition to case studies, global perspectives and interdisciplinary practices. 

• Grandi, L. K. (2020). City Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan.

This book presents an overview of seven proposed aspects of city diplomacy.

• Marchetti, R. (2021). City Diplomacy: From City–States to Global Cities. University of Michigan Press.

This book delves into how urban diplomacy defines international relations on a global level and explores cities and their increasing presence on the global stage. 

• Szpak, A., Gawlowski, R., Modrzynska, J., Modrzynski, P., Dahl, M. (2022). The Role of Cities in International Relations: The Third–generation of Multi–level Governance? United Kingdom, E–Content Generic Vendor.

This timely book advances the argument that cities are becoming active and informal actors in international lawmaking.

ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

• Leffel, B., Marahrens, H. & Alderson, A. S. (2022). “Divergence of the world city system from national economies.” Global Networks 00, 1–19.

This article argues that in recent years cities located in the poorest/least connected national economies—where urbanization has occurred most rapidly—are more powerful than cities in mid-level national economies. More broadly, it argues that national position in global trade no longer determines the power of cities in the world economy.

• Setzer, J. & Anderton, K. (2019). “Subnational leaders and diplomacy.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Oxford University Press.

This study seeks to explore the implications of subnational governments’ engagement in international relations.

• Murthy, S. L. (2019). “States and cities as norm sustainers: A role for subnational actors in the Paris agreement on climate change.” Virginia Environmental Law Journal, (37)1.

Murthy addresses the question: What do the support declarations from subnational cities and states in the U.S. pertaining to climate mean from the perspective of international law? This study argues that subnational actors are “norm sustainers” who ensure the success of the Paris Agreement.

• Ryniejska–Kiełdanowicz, M. & Magdalena, R. (2019). “Preferences of Transcultural Diversity: The Idea of City Diplomacy.” Political Preferences 23, 55–72.

The aim of this study explores how a city is governed to create a space termed as a “meeting place” and how this affects its international image. 

• Lecavalier, E. & Gordon, D. J. (2020). “Beyond Networking? The Agency of City Network Secretariats in the Realm of City Diplomacy.” City Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 13–36.

This chapter focuses on one under–theorized dimension of city network agency: the role and impact of city network secretariats (CNSs). 

• Liu, T. & Song, Y. (2020). “Chinese Paradiplomacy: A Theoretical Review.” SAGE Open, 10(1). 

This article presents a review of the theoretical and empirical studies of paradiplomacy produced to date.

• Klaus, I. (2020). “The State of City Diplomacy.” Urbanization. 

Cities have organized into a global collective voice. Doing so has required diplomatic maturation and resulted in new diplomatic standing. Both these developments will be tested with the return of great power politics.

• Pipa, A. F. & Bouchet, M. (2020). “Multilateralism Restored? City Diplomacy in the COVID-19 Era.” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 15(4).

This article explores how COVID-19 exposes the implications for the multilateral system of the growing role of cities. 

• Acuto, M., Kosovac, A., Hartley, K. (2021). “City Diplomacy: Another Generational Shift?” Diplomatica 3(1), 137–146.

This article explores the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and city diplomacy and the possible generational shift that has occurred as a result of the health crisis.

• Cantir, C. (2021). “Goodbye Moscow, Hello Brussels: The City Diplomacy of Chișinău Mayor Dorin Chirtoacă.” Nationalities Papers, 1–20.

This article argues that post-Soviet mayors are foreign policy actors that deserve more attention from area studies and foreign policy analysis scholars.

• Hambleton, R. (2021). “Place-based leadership beyond place: the rise of international city diplomacy.” Handbook on City and Regional Leadership. Edward Elgar Publishing, 131–151.

A conceptual framework, New Civic Leadership, is presented. This chapter aims to throw light on the way local leaders co–create new solutions to public problems by uniting the efforts of the various realms of leadership.

• Miyazaki, H. (2021). “Hiroshima and Nagasaki as Models of City Diplomacy.” Sustainability Science 16(4), 1215–1228.

This article draws on research related to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Mayors for Peace campaign aimed at promoting a vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

• Kosovac, A., Hartley, K., Acuto, M., Gunning, D. (2021). “City Leaders Go Abroad: A Survey of City Diplomacy in 47 Cities.” Urban Policy and Research 39(2), 127–142.

This study confirms that cities recognize the importance of city diplomacy but also lack necessary resources to fulfill the commitments they make to global agendas. 

• Amiri, S. (2022). “City Diplomacy: An Introduction to the Forum.” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 17(1), 91–95.

This article outlines the key parameters of a framework for city diplomacy to guide research and practice.

• Harrison, S. M. & Huang, Q. (2022). “Citizen or City Diplomacy? Diplomatic Co–Production and the Middle Ground in Municipal Twinning Relationships.” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy. 

This work is an attempt to help better understand the identities, capacities, continuities, criteria and conceptions at the heart of municipal twinning relationships. 

• Bouchet, M. (2022). “Strengthening Foreign Policy through Subnational Diplomacy.” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 17 (1), 96–108.

This article explores the roles and responsibility of national governments and what they can do to harness the power of city diplomacy as a soft power tool. 

• Kurz, P. (2022). “A Governance System that Supports City Diplomacy: The European Perspective.” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 17(1), 151–161.

This article explores how the global political system must evolve to harness the full potential of city diplomacy.

• Leffel, B. (2022). “Raffaele Marchetti, City Diplomacy: From City-States to Global Cities.” European Review of International Studies 9(1), 143–147.

This is a book review of what is listed above.

• Manfredi–Sánchez, J. L. (2022). “The political economy of city diplomacy.” Economic and Political Studies10(2), 228–249.

This article focuses on a political economy approach and how it may be a useful method to understand the role of global cities. 

• Mannix, C. J. (2022). “The Chorus Doctrine: Promoting Sub-National Diplomacy in Regional Growth Management.” Wash. L. Rev. 97, 627.

This article explores the power of subnational diplomacy and illustrates this through exemplary cities in the United States.

REPORTS

• Wang, J. & Amiri, S. (2019). “Building a Robust Capacity Framework for U.S. City Diplomacy.” USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

This report provides a framework for city diplomacy in the United States and presents readers with different approaches/suggestions as to how city diplomacy can be used/strengthened as a tool.

• Kosovac, A., et al. (2020). “Conducting City Diplomacy: A Survey of International Engagement in 47 Cities.” Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

This report is based on a survey of international engagement in 47 cities. It offers insight into the challenges and approaches to city diplomacy.

• Truman Center City & State Diplomacy Task Force (2022). “Broadening Diplomatic Engagement Across America.” Truman Center.

This report explores how to develop an office of subnational diplomacy at the Department of State within the state while building additional capacity for city and state governments and their communities to engage with their counterparts abroad.

• Pejic, D., Acuto, M., Kosovac, A. (2022). “City Diplomacy During COVID-19: The 2022 Cities and International Engagement Survey.” University of Melbourne. 

This report presents findings from the 2022 Cities and International Engagement Survey conducted by the Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

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