Global challenges no longer respect national borders. Threats like climate change, pandemics, rising hate, and extremism find their frontlines within U.S. cities and states, where innovative solutions to handle them are born. These days, foreign policy directly impacts the lives of everyday Americans. Recognizing this, Secretary of State Antony Blinken established a team focused on the local level, appointing me as it’s the first special representative for city and state diplomacy one year ago, in October 2022.
My team delivers the benefits of foreign policy and the expertise of the State Department to local elected leaders, while unlocking the untapped potential of American communities in shaping global solutions. As the special representative for city and state diplomacy, I’ve witnessed firsthand how our cities and states serve as innovation hubs.
Our mission is clear: We connect with mayors, governors, county officials, and other local leaders to learn their foreign policy priorities and elevate their voices to the national and international stage. We focus on what matters most to local leaders—addressing global challenges impacting their communities, creating jobs and opportunities through international engagement, and expanding opportunities for their young constituents.
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In our initial year, we focused on direct outreach, connecting with local leaders and their networks. Mayors from all corners of the country and from across the political spectrum, from Los Angeles, Calif., to Chattanooga, Tenn., to Dubuque, Iowa, to Atlanta, Ga., along with governors’ offices, now know how we can help them, and they can help us. These connections have forged a more profound link between everyday Americans and the global policies and events that influence their daily lives.
Democratic Governor Jay Inslee of Washington praised the establishment of our team as “one of the best things the Biden administration has done.” Republican Oklahoma City Mayor Holt, underscored the important work of the office in connecting local leaders to “international discussions, international issues, and international leaders.”
We made some history in our first year. For the first time, the State Department hosted a summit for cities. With the City of Denver and other partners, we brought together more than 250 mayors from the Western Hemisphere for the Cities Summit of the Americas. Well over 3,000 total participants gathered to connect and share solutions to the many transnational issues local leaders face.
To ensure that local leaders have lasting access to the Department of State’s resources past my tenure, my team is actively exploring avenues to make this function with the Department permanent for years to come. We must ensure that all Americans, through their local representatives, maintain a direct path to provide their voice to the policies that impact them globally.
When our local leaders engage globally, they become champions for tackling transnational challenges like climate change, share invaluable experiences, and proudly represent American values on the international stage. While our efforts have garnered recognition and appreciation, we are eager to achieve more.
In the upcoming months, we have our work cut out for us. We will work to elevate local voices at the U.N. Climate Change annual conference in Dubai. We will hold our first meeting of the Assembly of Local Leaders (ALL), a politically diverse group of mayors, county officials, and governors, who have agreed to engage with us regularly. We will engage with local officials to keep plastic out of the oceans. On all these issues, local leaders are critical—we cannot solve these challenges without them.
The field of subnational diplomacy is still new in the United States, but its potential is boundless. As we move forward, we seek your support to fortify our team and ensure its sustainability. Together, we can unlock the full potential of local diplomacy and empower American communities to play an even more substantial role in shaping a brighter, more interconnected world where solutions to global challenges genuinely originate at the local level.
Ambassador Nina Hachigian is the special representative for city and state diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State. Follow us at @SubnationalDip to stay connected and engaged in our work.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.