Amid International Tension, the Sister Cities Program Promotes Grassroots Diplomacy
Soybeans have become the heart of the current trade war between the U.S. and China, fueled by protectionist posturing by national leaders. But the humble crop was also the spark for an international friendship between the president of China and a Midwestern farmer that thrives today.
President Xi Jinping first visited Iowa in 1985 as part of an exchange with Sister Cities International, a nonprofit organization supporting citizen diplomacy and individual connections across borders. He stayed close with the family that hosted him as a young delegate from Hebei province, and this year, a soybean farm opened in Hebei, modeled after the one run by another family who hosted him on a return trip as vice president in 2012.
As nationalist rhetoric continues to gain prominence in global politics, Sister Cities International -- an organization that is decidedly nonpolitical in its mission -- fosters positive and steady global ties. During an era of strained alliances and political uncertainty, some experts say the grassroots diplomacy embraced by the program may be more important than ever.
"I don't believe you can have sustainable solutions for global problems today if you don't have top-down and bottom-up diplomacy," says Jeffrey Feltman, former U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs and a current visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. "In many cases, leadership at the top can be far more courageous when civil-society organizations mobilize public support."
From climate change to immigration, the role of cities in the globalized world is growing. This increasing influence, coupled with locally minded sensibilities, makes cities a logical choice to foster strong person-to-person relationships internationally, some experts say.
The majority of the world's population -- 4.2 billion people, according to the U.N. -- lives in metropolitan areas, and about 60 percent of the world's economy is driven by a group of 600 cities. More than half of people around the world say they feel more like a citizen of their city than their country, according to the 2018 U.S. News Best Countries survey.
"Given a time when too many global leaders are looking inward more than outside their countries, cities can help fill the gap and maintain the relationships and values we should be maintaining," Feltman says.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded Sister Cities International in 1956 at the White House Summit on Citizen Diplomacy, when the U.S. and the rest of the world were still reeling from two world wars. His vision was rooted in the idea that person-to-person connections could help overcome differences and prevent future conflict.
Sister Cities pairs U.S. communities with international ones, and relationships often form organically between those that are similar in size or have another common thread. Youth and student exchange programs are typical, as well as those focused on the arts and business, depending on the resources available.
Today, more than 2,000 Sister City relationships operate across 140 countries in a world that is more globalized, but perhaps more tribalist than ever before.
"There are things we can do as people that sometimes the government cannot," says Nancy Perdomo-Browning, president of the Culver City Sister City Committee in California. "We can get people to talk, which makes an impact that creates change and opportunities."
At the annual Sister Cities conference earlier this month, Hays, Kansas, was honored for having the best overall program for a small city for its relationships with Xinzheng, China, and Santa Maria, Paraguay. While Hays, with its rolling plains and roaming cattle, may seem quite different from Santa Maria -- home to 17th-century cobblestone streets and friendly monkeys -- the two actually have much in common. Sister City leaders from both communities share advice on solutions to common challenges for smaller, more isolated cities, such as the flight of educated youth, access to new jobs and investment, and access to health care.
Culver City, California, another winner for best overall program, was recognized for its support of an orphanage in sister city Uruapan, Mexico, as well as an exchange with sister city Kaizuka, Japan, that brought international runners to each city's respective marathon.
Advocates of the Sister Cities program say sports connections like these could one day be analogous to events in 1971 when, at the height of the Cold War era, a group of table tennis players became the first Americans to visit communist China. Less than a year later, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to travel to Beijing. Whether or not the results were intentional, the table tennis game certainly laid a solid foundation for future diplomatic relations.
"When people are having fun doing something, they want to do more of it. And that is how the concrete benefits of Sister Cities continue," says Roger-Mark De Souza, president and CEO of Sister Cities International.
Despite the separation from politics, cities in the program do benefit from some government funding, both at the federal and local level.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs granted Sister Cities International about $400,000, which was used largely to provide training and resources for member communities. Sister Cities is a line item on many city budgets, too, often falling under tourism departments. Most participating city governments cover annual membership dues and 79 percent have a total budget of $25,000 or less.
Measuring the direct benefits of these grants and investments is not always straightforward, but advocates of the program say the momentum is clear.
"The most innovative responses to emerging global issues happen at the local level," De Souza says. "Action is happening in cities regardless of what is happening at the national and international level because it is the first level of response."
Despite the goodwill the Sister Cities program spreads, it has its limitations.
Urban dwellers are generally more global-minded and inclusive to begin with, leaving a large rural population with even fewer opportunities for international connections. And as students, technology and culture are exchanged across borders, the organization's nonpartisan stance leaves many human rights issues unaddressed.
But citizen diplomacy is meant to calm the rumble, not add to it.
"I don't think we can look at these sorts of activities in a strictly short-term transactional perspective," Feltman says. "Civil-society organizations are essential to the advocacy of the rights of individuals. They are necessary to maintain public support of the types of public liberties we've enjoyed, but they don't all have to do it all."
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