We connect local elected leaders with peers around the world to exchange ideas, solutions, and solidarity. Working across borders enables mayors, governors, and other local officials to attract investment, host international events, and tackle shared challenges such as AI, climate change, pandemics, and governance.
Through ALLIES, US and global state and local leaders gain the connections, infrastructure, and knowledge needed to tackle shared problems, reduce risks, and exchange effective solutions for the issues most important to them.
To learn more about city and state diplomacy, check out these resources below:
We find that engagement in city diplomacy is strongly related to higher metro area export values. This peer-reviewed Urban Studies article presents the first large-scale quantitative analysis linking city-level diplomatic activity—such as Sister Cities, international networks, and foreign consulates—to economic outcomes. Using fifteen years of data from the 100 largest U.S. metro areas, the authors find a strong, positive relationship between city diplomacy and higher exports, especially for mid-sized cities.
While the Trump Administration closed the Subnational Diplomacy Unit at the State Department, this author argues that by empowering cities to engage internationally in pragmatic ways, foreign policy implementations can shift downward, smoothing local-global engagement while advancing broader security and diplomatic aims.
This Foreign Service Journal article features a conversation with Ambassador Nina Hachigian, the first U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy, reflecting on her office’s work before January 2025. It highlights how cities and states are shaping global diplomacy on issues like climate change, migration, and economic development.
This article traces the evolution of U.S. subnational diplomacy: once episodic and domestically focused, U.S. cities and states have transformed since the early 21st century into global actors engaging through multi-stakeholder frameworks that include philanthropy, academia, think tanks, and business. The report also highlights efforts by Ambassador (ret.) Nina Hachigian as part of a broader strategy to integrate local governments into the U.S. diplomatic apparatus amid rising urban influence and geopolitical competition.
