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41 Mich. J. Int'l L. 227 (2020)
The Urbanization of International Law and International Relations: The Rising Soft Power of Cities in Global Governance

handle is hein.journals/mjil41 and id is 239 raw text is: THE URBANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THE RISING SOFT POWER OF CITIES IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE Chrystie Swiney * I. INTRODUCTION In an era of increased partisan gridlock among nation-states, ongoing democratic deficits in the international policymaking process, plummeting levels of trust in national leaders, and the failure of federal governments to solve our most pressing global problems,' attention is shifting to a different set of actors: cities. Cities are not only more attuned to the needs of their electorate, more trusted than their national counterparts, more adept at get- ting things done, and less partisan when it comes to working across aisles and oceans,3 but they are also more ambitious in pushing forward bold, hu- Chrystie Flournoy Swiney is an international lawyer, legal fellow for the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative, legal scholar and advisor at the Sunwater Institute, and PhD candidate in the Government Department at Georgetown University. She holds graduate degrees from Harvard Law School (JD), Oxford University (MPhil), and Georgetown (MA/PhD (ABD)), and she is the lead author of Global Trends in NGO Law. Chrystie would like to thank Professor Sheila Foster at the Georgetown Law Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy for her guiding hand and inspirational mentorship, as well as for her collabo- ration and ongoing partnership in research on global cities. Chrystie is also thankful for the support of the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative and Professor Uwe Brandes. Learn more about Chrystie, including her research and publications, at http://chrystieswiney. georgetown.domains. 1. See THOMAS HALE, DAVID HELD, & KEVIN YOUNG, GRIDLOCK: WHY GLOBAL COOPERATION IS FAILING WHEN WE NEED IT MOST (2013) (arguing that our tools for global policymaking, primarily state-to-state negotiations over treaties and international institutions, have broken down); Dan Koon-Hong Chan, City Diplomacy and Glocal Governance: Revi- talizing Cosmopolitan Democracy, 29 EURO. J. Soc. SC. RES. 134, 135 (2016) (discussing how international policymaking suffers from democratic deficits). 2. Many pundits, scholars, and even former diplomats are starting to make this argu- ment. See, e.g., GERALD FRUG, RiCHARD FORD, & DAVID BARRON, LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS 278 (6th ed. 2010); Nina Hachigian, Cities Will Determine the Future of Diplomacy, FOREIGN POL'Y (Apr. 16, 2019), https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/16/ cities-will-determine-the-future-of-diplomacy; Chrystie Swiney & Sheila Foster, Cities are Rising in Influence and Power on the Global Stage, CrrvLAB (Apr. 15, 2019), https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/04/city-leadership-international-policy-mayors- u20-uclg-c40/587089; Robert Muggah et al., Cities, Not Nation States, Will Determine Our Future Survival. Here's Why, WORLD ECON. F. (June 2, 2017), https://www.weforum.org/ agenda/2017/06/as-nation-states-falter-cities-are-stepping-up. 3. Richard Florida, Are Local Politics as Polarized as National? Depends on the Is- sue, CITYLAB (Apr. 24, 2019) https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/04/polarization-cities- 227

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