City Diplomacy in Young Democracies: The Case of the Baltics

Burkšienė, Valentina; Dvorak, Jaroslav; Burbulytė-Tsiskarishvili, Gabrielė

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45615-3_14

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Further research into the political consequences of both strong and weak engagement in city diplomacy is therefore crucial. Special attention needs to be paid to case studies on the extent to which mid-sized and small cities manage to benefit from contemporary city diplomacy, as, a few exceptions aside (Burksiene et al, 2020;Clerc, 2020;Koelemaij and Derudder, 2022;Wijnen, 2010), the majority of empirical studies have focused on the pioneering 'superstar cities', thereby largely neglecting the 'bywatchers' and 'silent silos' (Espin˜eira-Guirao, 2020) despite the fact that in many European countries, the vast majority of the population lives within mid-sized and small cities (Dijkstra and Poelman, 2012).…”

Section: What About Uneven Development?mentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

2023

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City officials increasingly maintain relations with foreign stakeholders, both public and private, a practice that is generally referred to as city diplomacy. In the past, city diplomacy activities focused on bilateral cultural and knowledge exchanges. Although this type of collaboration still exists, contemporary city diplomacy has become more dynamic and diverse, and increasingly includes an economic dimension. In addition, many cities currently prioritise becoming involved in a variety of multilateral inter-urban networks. Despite wide-ranging conversations on the challenges and opportunities of these new types of city diplomacy, theoretical reflections regarding the underlying processes and the potential consequences remain largely absent from the literature. In this article, we argue that the city diplomacy literature can therefore be enriched by engaging with concepts and debates developed in economic geography in two main ways. We first elaborate on contemporary varieties of urban entrepreneurialism and the extent to which these correspond with city diplomacy practices. We argue that city diplomacy contains elements of both traditional entrepreneurialism and managerialism. Second, we look at city diplomacy through the lens of uneven development, hypothesising that city diplomacy may entail a self-reinforcing effect in terms of enhancing socio-spatial differences between ‘superstar cities’ and ‘places that do not matter’ respectively.

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Section: What About Uneven Development?mentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

2023

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“…Russian and, more recently, Baltic cases tend to prevail, with scarce information on the remaining post-Soviet states. 4 Recent evidence shows that mayoral diplomatic activities can be substantial: in a study of four Baltic cities, Burksiene et al (2020) find that "all mayors have meetings with ambassadors from both EU and non-EU countries, as well as leaders of global organizations, where they discuss global as well as state-level problems" (323). Unsurprisingly, the activities of Russian mayors tend to get the bulk of the attention, with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov garnering the lion's share (Alexandrov 2001;Kolossov et al 2002; see also Golubchikov 2010 on Saint Petersburg).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The limited scholarship that does surface on city diplomacy 3 in the post-Soviet era reveals that cities engage in a variety of actions, including participation in regional networks (Kusku-Sonmez 2014), the creation of city networks (Burksiene et al 2020), city twinning and cooperation that vary in terms of depth and content (Joenniemi and Sergunin 2012), the opening of offices abroad (Burksiene et al 2020), and the organization of various international events (ibid.). Russian and, more recently, Baltic cases tend to prevail, with scarce information on the remaining post-Soviet states 4…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These diplomatic activities are set in the context of broad global processes like European integration (Joenniemi and Sergunin 2012; see also Favell 2011 on the Eurocities program) and are affected by the relationship between central governments in which the cities are located (Joenniemi and Sergunin 2012, 28, 30; Stoklosa 2017), NGO activism (Burksiene et al 2020, 326) and prior historical ties (ibid. ), for instance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, city diplomacy – particularly in non-Russian cities – is embedded in the frequent back-and-forth between East and West integration. Burksiene et al (2020) analyze the city diplomacy of four Baltic states active in the Eurocities program, which occasionally engage in actions that antagonize central authorities pursuing a more pragmatic diplomatic orientation toward Russia. In links between Narva (Estonia) and Ivangorod (Russia), Joenniemi and Sergunin (2012) find both tensions and pathways to conciliation that emerge as these cities navigate EU-Russian exchanges (see also Stoklosa 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Goodbye Moscow, Hello Brussels”: The City Diplomacy of Chișinău Mayor Dorin Chirtoacă

Cantir

2021

Nationalities Papers

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This article argues that post-Soviet mayors are foreign policy actors that deserve more attention from area studies and foreign policy analysis scholars. Mayors have their own diplomatic preferences and goals – rooted in geopolitical and ethnonationalist views – that they can enact using city hall institutions and networks. They can work either in harmony or in opposition with central authorities by bolstering or compromising the executive’s diplomatic goals and actions. These claims are explored in a case study of the foreign policy of Chișinău mayor Dorin Chirtoacă (2007–2017), whose diplomatic endeavors consolidated the Moldovan capital’s ties with Romania and the European Union and minimized interactions with countries in the former Soviet Union, including Russia. At times, the mayor’s actions abroad ran afoul of central authorities as he created an alternative foreign policy that undermined central foreign policy. The findings suggest that a more extensive investigation of how mayors interact with foreign actors would refine our understanding of foreign policy-making in the former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe more broadly.

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