Research On Urban Public Diplomacy In International Field Of Vision

How can the foreign affairs activities of a city be described? From the early1980’s on,cities in China has experienced such a rapid and profound shift in itssocial,economic,and political characteristics as a result of open to the outsideworld,yet there has been no comprehensive study of what we may term “city’s foreignrelations.” Chongqing–the so called “Capital of the Western China”–is an ideallaboratory for developing and applying a model whereby we can begin to answer thisquestion.Adapting and expanding the “complex conglomerate system”model developedin the local government,this dissertation combines event data analysis of a large datasample gathered from Chongqing Statistical Yearbook from the period1997-2012with several dozen “key department” interviews to give a rich and nuanced view ofthe city’s public diplomacy under internationalization in four areas:the political elite,economic, social and political grassroots spheres.A series of mini-case studies bringsthe project current to2012.Classical foreign policy is made at the national level,but Chongqing City, with its32million population,1001billion RMB economy in2011,is larger than manycountries.Substate entities–including regions, state, and cities–are crossingthresholds that only nations had once been able to cross,and mankind is experiencinga blurring of the line separating domestic from international affairs. Traditionaltheories of public diplomacy cannot adequately describe nor account for the comlexityand intertwining of city’s international association. Despite scholars’assertion that softpower proved to be very important in diplomacy policy, this dissertation haveobserved that is unilateral comprehension from the Battle of Western Broadcasting inthe Cold War.Of course,the city public diplomacy cannot be deprived from thedecision process of politics and the economy strategy.As we find ourselves in anemerging “archipelago of cities”-perhaps even a new era of augmented city publicdiplomacy–spanning the globle, cities which are increasingly relevant in and ofthemselves to international interactions.Theoretically,this study attempts to blend international relations, localpolitics,urban studies,and sociology in a new way.Comparatively,it adds to growing body of literature dealing with patterns of political, economic, and social activity bysubnational actors in the foreign relations arena.Operationally, the study serves as acatalyst–for future research that can contribute to the formation of municipaldiplomacy policy.