Global cities as subjects of international relations in the 21st century

Abstract

Global cities are becoming increasingly influential actors in international relations in the 21st century. That is why this work uses a city as the primary unit of analysis, which, although traditionally considered a state actor, currently develops autonomous initiatives that go beyond internal borders and have a global reach. The goal is to examine the potential and resources of global cities for independent participation in international relations and thereby evaluate their role in foreign policy. To explain this process, the concept of actorness is used. Actorness as a character of the city was discussed in more detail in the example of Sao Paolo by applying Duran?s four-dimensional model, whose criteria are authority, opportunities, autonomy, and presence. This model was applied in search of an answer to the main research question: Can we talk about Sao Paolo as an actor in international relations? The analysis of the case study will be based on an extensive review of primary and secondary data sources, including official documents of the city municipality and the city office for external affairs, media reports, scientific publications, and works on the topic of the city?s international engagements. Based on the analysis of the mentioned data, each of these characteristics has been met in the international activity of Sao Paulo. The intention is to contribute to the existing literature by expanding the geographical scope of the study of international urban activism and shifting the academic focus away from the Eurocentric discourse. The paper adopts a multilingual approach in search of relevant information on the role of cities in international relations in Spanish and Portuguese in order to enrich the debate and fill the gaps found in the literature in English.