REBUILDING AMERICAN CREDIBILITY ABROAD: THROUGH SUBNATIONAL LEADERSHIP, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MODELS THE WAY
This article is a counterpart to the authors’ recent paper “The U.S.-Japan Relationship: Modeling New Frontiers in Subnational Diplomacy,” published by the East-West Center in Washington (Asia Pacific Bulletin No. 554, March 18, 2021), in collaboration with Tokyo Review, as part of a series titled “Enduring and New Frontiers in U.S.-Japan Relations.” The views expressed are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of any organization with which the authors are affiliated.
BY SEAN CONNELL AND SARAH SIELOFF
The U.S. West Coast is in the vanguard of building partnerships and people-to-people bridges around the world, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. These subnational connections have a valuable role to play as the Biden Administration pursues a foreign policy agenda that aims to address middle-class needs more effectively, while rebuilding American credibility abroad. Pacific Northwest states and communities are well-positioned to model this subnational leadership, and pursue new economic, social, and environmental initiatives in support of both local and national goals.
U.S. states, cities, ports, private sector organizations, educational institutions, and philanthropies, among others, play a growing role in international relations. For state and local governments, these activities have historically taken the form of business missions and sister relationships focused on cultural, educational, and political exchanges. Increasingly, subnational initiatives have diversified and evolved into new areas, from technology and entrepreneurship to climate change and disaster resilience.
Washington and other U.S. Pacific Coast states have a long history of subnational leadership in the Indo-Pacific region. According to the East-West Center’s Asia Matters for America initiative, 38% of U.S. sister relationships are in the Indo-Pacific—more than any other world region—and California, Washington, and Hawaii lead all other U.S. states in the number of these relationships. Japan societies were established in Seattle in 1923, and in San Francisco and Los Angeles as early as 1905, to promote bilateral understanding and cooperation.
In 1979, Washington conducted the first U.S. state trade mission to the People’s Republic of China and launched the first state level organization promoting U.S.-China relations. U.S.-China subnational initiatives have been an integral part of bilateral strategic economic dialogues, and in 2017 Washington co-convened with China’s Ministry of Commerce the first-of-its-kind Chinese Provinces-Washington State Trade and Investment Forum.
U.S. states and cities often lead the way in policy experimentation, fostering new industries and economic clusters that Indo-Pacific counterparts look to as models. These increasingly factor into subnational initiatives. Collaboration across multiple high-tech sectors was the focus of a memorandum of cooperation between Washington and Japan in 2016. Initiatives promoting cross-border entrepreneurship have also grown rapidly. They range from prize competitions in Silicon Valley and accelerator programs bridging Washington and Korean counterparts, to institutions like the Global Innovation Exchange partnership between the University of Washington, China’s Tsinghua University, and Microsoft.
Subnational activity is part and parcel of increasing complexity within the international system.
The importance of these relationships, and the resilient people-to-people connections they create, is recognized at the highest levels of leadership. Former Utah Governor and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, in a recent panel of former U.S. governors discussing U.S.-China subnational relations, remarked that the subnational level is “where we can be most productive,” and that when governors and mayors get together with their Chinese counterparts they “speak the same language,” including on local priorities like education and health care. As the distance between local and global continues to shrink, subnational initiatives offer local leaders’ platforms and linkages that can leverage these changes to the advantage of their communities.
These relationships take on greater value at a time of transition in U.S. foreign policy, following the disruptions of Trump’s “America first” policy, and amid the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and pressing national debates over equity, inclusion, and justice. Importantly, the Biden Administration has declared its intent to integrate U.S. foreign policy into a national policy agenda that more effectively addresses the needs of the middle class. As national security advisor Jake Sullivan said, “the work that we do abroad fundamentally has to connect to making the lives of working people better, safer, fairer.” Subnational partnerships are critical to making this connection.
Integral to this is, first, envisioning new approaches that support national and local goals and more deeply incorporate U.S. communities and the economic, social, and environmental issues they confront. Pacific Northwest states and cities are well-positioned to lead the way, drawing on their deep relationships and extensive experiences with Asian partners.
One promising area for collaboration is economic inclusion, a priority for all U.S. communities and a challenge shared by Pacific counterparts. For example, in Japan these trends are compounded by population aging; towns where 50 percent of residents are over age 65 are not unusual, and by 2065 Japan may lose over 30 percent of its population. The results of this transition are clearly visible in smaller municipalities’ weakened economies, including parts of Tokyo.
Local entities in both countries are responding to these challenges with a host of strategies that can offer new ideas, and models that are potentially replicable across borders. Initiatives in Washington include regional entrepreneurship networks engaging dislocated workers as small business mentors, and printing wooden currency to help residents and businesses weather the pandemic. In Japan, towns are going zero-waste, building an economy around fermented foods, and fostering remote work facilities that encourage urbanites to share their talents in depopulating municipalities.
Climate change is another area in which U.S. subnational actors have asserted themselves on the international stage. California made headlines in 2017 by signing agreements with the Chinese government and provinces to cooperate on reducing emissions. There is a track record of U.S.-Japan cooperation in piloting and advancing energy transition solutions, such as the Hawaii-Okinawa Clean Energy Partnership and an electric vehicle demonstration project in California, among others. Community groups have also used global partnerships to advance local environmental goals, such as enhancing salmon stream habitat in Washington and Japan.
Increased opportunities for states, cities, and other subnational actors to proactively, intelligently, and effectively engage in national bilateral initiatives will further strengthen connections between the United States and its global partners.
These and similar models can apply to addressing other pressing climate change challenges across borders—for example, improving forestry management to mitigate the risks of catastrophic fires and landslides. Moreover, Japanese cities such as Kitakyushu and Yokkaichi have spearheaded environmental technology transfer to communities across the Indo-Pacific region based on their successful experiences mitigating pollution, making them good partners for U.S. communities also seeking to share and learn worldwide.
Fully leveraging these opportunities requires more resources and greater national-local coordination. While states and local entities actively engage individual federal agencies in their international activities, from trade missions to National Guard partnerships, the U.S. lacks a central federal office to facilitate, advise, and help coordinate subnational international engagement. There is much to gain by enhancing information sharing across and among U.S. national, state, and local partners about best practices and models. Such exchange also helps develop meaningful ways to include historically underrepresented communities in these activities.
Subnational activity is part and parcel of increasing complexity within the international system. Complexity brings opportunities as well as risks, like the possibility that a subnational actor could inadvertently undermine national policies or send conflicting messages to allies. The best way to manage these risks is to anticipate them by building the appropriate infrastructure. For example, the City and State Diplomacy Act, introduced in both houses of the last Congress, would have established an Office of Subnational Diplomacy within the U.S. State Department. Such a coordinating post would help to better align subnational efforts with national diplomatic strategies, and support both local and national priorities.
Increased opportunities for states, cities, and other subnational actors to proactively, intelligently, and effectively engage in national bilateral initiatives will further strengthen connections between the United States and its global partners. Empowering people to build these relationships and advance greater goods is the right thing to do. With deep and longstanding relationships in the Indo-Pacific region, Pacific Northwest states and cities – as well as the people and organizations within them – can show what is possible, practicable, and meaningful.
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Sean Connell is a Senior Fellow at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, and a former Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington. Previously Director for Japan and Korea at the United States Chamber of Commerce, and a Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi Fellow, he has served in leadership roles in international trade and economic development in Washington State.
Sarah Sieloff is a 2020 Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi Fellow based in Japan, where she is researching how Japanese municipalities are responding to depopulation. From 2015 to 2020, Sarah led the Center for Creative Land Recycling, the United States' premier national non-profit dedicated to land reuse and redevelopment.
Sean Connell and Sarah Sieloff are specialists in local economic development and have extensive international professional experience, including as Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellows in Japan. Both grew up in Snohomish County, Washington. The views expressed are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of any organization with which the authors are affiliated.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
