THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2025 31 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. 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 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
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