AFSA President Tom Yazdgerdi: Cities, states, and local governments are increasingly significant actors in international engagement, and that’s especially true managing the effects of global challenges such as climate change and migration. What does this mean for our national foreign policy and what has the U.S. government been doing about it? To talk about this, and more, we are pleased to welcome Nina Hachigian. Ambassador Hachigian was previously the first deputy mayor for international affairs for the city of Los Angeles. Prior to that, she served as the second U.S. ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Ambassador, thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us and take our questions.
     Ambassador Nina Hachigian: Hi Tom, and thank you for having me. Thank you to AFSA for all that you do.

Special Representative Nina Hachigian speaks on a Symposium on Strategic Subnational Diplomacy panel with Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly on Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Oskar Dap Photography

     AFSA: “Subnational diplomacy” has been a popular term of late. Could you please help us define it and explain why we need subnational diplomacy?
     NH: Subnational diplomacy refers to the official interactions of cities, counties, states, and regions across international borders. This could be, for example, a state-to-region or state-to-nation connection, or a city-to-city or city-to-nation connection. State-to-nation is happening pretty frequently in the United States these days. Let me give you some examples.
     The former governor of Indiana has generated substantial investment in his state because of his very international perspective and reports that others have done the same. He told me, for instance, that dozens of international delegations were going to go to the Indy 500 this year. Elsewhere, the mayor of Phoenix traveled to Taiwan to seal a deal for a semiconductor fab coming to her city. Eleven U.S. cities are going to host the FIFA World Cup games—that will bring in lots of tourists from all over the globe. Jobs, trade, investment—that’s always number one for most mayors and governors.
     But there are other reasons, too, like finding solutions to shared challenges. Following terrible floods in Hoboken, New Jersey, the mayor created a partnership with the Netherlands because they have so much experience and all kinds of technology that can deal with floods. That kind of “best practice sharing” can be really magical when it’s done well.
     A governor or mayor might want to make connections that are important to a significant diaspora population that they have. I remember the mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, telling me that “people bring their places with them” when they come. So he went to visit the Dominican Republic to get a better understanding of this big part of his population. And I know the mayor of Oklahoma City was very welcoming when Mexico opened a consulate in his city.
     There are also cultural connections of all kinds: thousands of sister cities, student exchanges, and musical events that enrich the lives of everyday Americans. Another reason to work internationally is to project the values of your city or your state. When I was deputy mayor, I went to a meeting of the U20 (Urban 20), which connects the big urban centers of the Group of 20 countries. Lots of these local actors work in global networks based on different issues.

“Best practice sharing” can be really magical when it’s done well.

     AFSA: Can you go into a little more detail about transnational challenges like climate change and migration? How does subnational diplomacy interact with those issues?
     NH: The United Nations projects that by 2050, two-thirds of the world population will be urban. Cities, counties, states, and regions are becoming the locus of many transnational challenges. Extreme weather events like wildfires and hurricanes, pandemics, the spread of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, cyberattacks on local infrastructure—local elected leaders are on the front lines of all these very global challenges. Of course, the State Department and other parts of the U.S. government are also working on those challenges. It makes sense to find synergies between work at the national and local levels.

Special Representative Nina Hachigian.
Oskar Dap Photography

     AFSA: The subnational diplomacy unit and your position were established two years ago. What was the vision? And what have been your main accomplishments there?
     NH: The team is small, but we’ve gotten a lot done. [In fact, Forbes called us a paragon of government efficiency, Hachigian later added.] We’ve had a lot of enthusiasm from the leadership of the State Department that has propelled us.
     The vision came from President [Joe] Biden’s objective of a foreign policy for the middle class. You have to reach out to places where Americans live. In our two years, we’ve connected with more than 5,500 elected leaders or staff in all states and territories.
     We’ve worked to connect local leaders to the benefits of working with the State Department and having input into U.S. foreign policy. One of the main priorities of mayors, governors, and county officials is economic growth, and they’re all interested in foreign direct investment [FDI]. How can we get a foreign company to set up a manufacturing facility or a research facility here? We help by providing local FDI data to them, for example.
     We also tell people about the amazing student exchanges that the State Department runs. There are so many of them, but they are not all well known. That’s something else elected leaders really like.
     But the bread and butter of our work is answering their questions. We get pinged all the time by mayors and governors across the country on a wide variety of issues. We’ve briefed governors in advance of their meeting heads of state, for example.
     In terms of how we help foreign policy, there are five ways that I think about it. First, local elected leaders help the State Department in terms of their expertise and their implementation in a range of areas. We’ve talked about job creation; but they also make local-level decisions that affect decarbonization, like procuring electric school buses that are healthier for kids. When we brief local leaders for engagements that they will have with China, we say that they have the option of discussing what fentanyl is doing to their communities, to reinforce the message that the State Department and the White House are giving China.
     Second, subnational diplomacy can help enhance bilateral ties. Local leaders can share best practices and grow a relationship through practical, nonideological conversations. The U.K., Germany, and others have cultivated ties with states in the United States. The president of Armenia gave opening remarks at a forum we organized. We are planning trips for 2025 that we hope will strengthen national and local ties. In some countries, ties at the national level are frozen: In those cases, subnational diplomacy is the most active bilateral interaction that we have with elected officials.
     Third, the State Department’s capacity in subnational diplomacy focuses attention on the space that our competitors and our adversaries are exploiting. Domestically, the People’s Republic of China [PRC] takes advantage of the fact that our political system is decentralized to gain influence when national-level relationships are sticky. With China House, we offer briefings for local leaders before they interact with their counterparts from the PRC to suggest ways for them to reduce risks in those interactions.
     Many of our allies have similar challenges at the local level, so we’re holding a symposium on strategic subnational diplomacy with allied countries to train city, regional, and national officials on the skills to navigate foreign engagement at the local level and encourage them to share best practices. Local action can also support multilateral diplomacy such as the Summit of the Americas, which rotates every three years. The United States was the host starting in 2022, and we held a city summit for the first time, with hundreds of mayors joining. I think that was the first time the State Department had ever hosted a city summit, but it continues to pay dividends.
     And next we are going to release a “Green City Finance Guide” for cities in Latin America so they can implement a program called Cities Forward, which pairs U.S. and Latin American cities to share best practices in sustainable development.
     Finally, subnational diplomacy can introduce us to future national leaders early in their careers. For example, Secretary [Antony] Blinken met the mayor of Mexico City at the Summit of the Americas, and she is now the president of Mexico.

Making local officials more resilient to PRC approaches, fentanyl, cyberattacks—these are bipartisan issues.

     AFSA: In your view, is the Foreign Service positioned for work in subnational diplomacy? Why should we have diplomats posted around the U.S., and why would they want this type of job?
     NH: In terms of whether we’re well positioned, we’re getting there. If I could have the Foreign Service Institute do a course on subnational diplomacy, I would. It’s a learned set of skills. But Foreign Service officers are used to bouncing around the world, working in different places and totally different contexts—they learn quickly on the job.
     Our mayors and governors are vastly underresourced and don’t have international expertise in their staffs. European cities, Asian cities, and Latin American cities have bigger staffs and budgets, and they therefore get the benefits of hosting big international events, bringing in tourists, or collaborating on shared challenges.
     The Lewis Local Diplomat program we have started is trying to fill that void. It makes sense to have Foreign Service officers posted locally here [in the U.S.], and it’s a great training opportunity for them as well. (The Pearson program used to do this, but Pearson fellows are all detailed to Capitol Hill now.)
     We’ve had great enthusiasm from Foreign Service and Civil Service officers about getting a chance to have a unique experience in the State Department, to see the immediate impact of their work.

     AFSA: The incoming administration has promoted a more “America First” vision. How would you pitch the work of your office to the new administration? Critics of subnational diplomacy efforts have said it is being implemented in a partisan way. How would you address that?
     NH: First of all, I take extreme issue with the accusation that our work has been partisan. That is just not true. We work to engage with local leaders of all parties.
     And in terms of the argument to keep it going: Subnational diplomacy is a tool. Mayors, county supervisors, and governors want to know whom to call when they need help, and it makes sense to use the federal government to help them.
     Making local officials more resilient to PRC approaches, fentanyl, cyberattacks—these are bipartisan issues. The incoming administration may not make climate and democracy a focus—those were the priorities of the Biden administration. You need to look at the intersection of what local officials want and what the priorities of the new administration are.

Special Representative Nina Hachigian greets guests at the Symposium on Strategic Subnational Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2025.
Oskar Dap Photography

     AFSA: We’ll turn to the audience for questions. Here’s one: The Foreign Commercial Service [FCS] strategically places Foreign Service officers and trade specialists throughout the U.S. to promote trade and commercial diplomacy at the subnational level. How is your office interacting with them?
     NH: We encourage local diplomats in the field to find the local Commercial Service office and get to know them. We suggest mayors and governors talk to their local Commerce office. We also work with the SelectUSA team to encourage local leaders to go to that annual event. We’re very happy that FCS is out there.

     AFSA: How would you recommend college students or recent graduates get involved in foreign affairs at the state level? And how can retired diplomats participate?
     NH: For the first question, I would say an internship is a good place to start—and many of them are paid in cities or states. My office always wants interns as well, so that’s another good place to start. And there are several internship programs that the State Department runs—specify that you want to do subnational diplomacy. Just getting a sense of the way these places operate, which is very different from the federal government, is really good knowledge and will set you up later to move into subnational diplomacy.
     It’s interesting that you mentioned retired Foreign Service officers, because I have many times thought that, but we have not had the bandwidth to really capitalize on it. But I think there’s a lot of potential there. If you’re retired Foreign Service, I would encourage you to make contact. You can email our office at subnational@state.gov.

In some countries, ties at the national level are frozen: In those cases, subnational diplomacy is the most active bilateral interaction that we have.

     AFSA: Does your office also engage with other subnational actors such as universities and civil society organizations?
     NH: We do definitely engage with civil society and universities when we visit new places. But there are other parts of the State Department that more directly engage with civil society and universities, so I would say yes and no.
     We engage with organizations that work with local leaders. For example, the Strong City Network works on polarization and violence, and there’s an organization that works on gender equity for cities. There are a few that work on climate. We work with all those organizations as well as membership organizations for local elected leaders in the United States, like the National Governors Association, the Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, or the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

     AFSA: How would you like to see city and state diplomacy grow in the next five years?
     NH: The big challenge is just the resources at the local level. The other barrier is mayors and governors being concerned that they will be criticized for going overseas. They are concerned about the political backlash. I think what we’ve been able to do is show that this is part of their job and why. I want that stigma to go away. The United States in some ways is really at the beginning of this journey. I just want to see it continue to grow.

     AFSA: What have been some of the surprises in your tenure, and what does success look like in this space?
     NH: I did not expect the level of interest by mayors and governors, honestly. Everyone’s interested. Mayors and governors are really interested in serving their residents through international engagement.
     And in terms of what success looks like, it just looks like more subnational diplomatic action by cities, counties, and states, for all the reasons that we’ve talked about, because of all the ways it can benefit those places.

Read More...

• “Cities are Transforming U.S. Foreign Policy” by Nina Hachigian, Foreign Affairs, December 2020
• “Subnational Diplomacy: A National Security Imperative” by Maryum Saifee, The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022
• “Local Governments Are Foreign Policy Actors, Too” by Nina Hachigian, The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022