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The mainstream literature on global cities tends to explain the internationalization of cities almost exclusively from the perspective of recent developments in global capitalism, developments that have put cities at the heart of an increasingly globalized, financialized, and deregulated world economy. The internationalization of these so-called global cities is seen as a response to, and is conditioned by, external, and mainly economic, exigencies. Research on the foreign relations of city governments has followed in this tradition, with a predominant focus on the global drivers and manifestations, as well as the systemic implications of this phenomenon. Little academic attention has been given to the domestic contexts within which city governments develop and exercise their international agency. This paper is inspired by the emergence of alternative accounts in the global cities literature, which have underscored the importance of the domestic context in making sense of the contemporary internationalization of cities, to analyze the domestic sources of the City of Johannesburg's foreign relations from 2011 to 2016. While acknowledging Johannesburg's global cities ambition as a major driver of the city government's international relations during this period, we identify and analyze a set of local and national factors that equally inspired and conditioned the city's foreign engagements. These include the huge socio-economic and spatial divide that continues to define the city, the influence of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its doctrine of progressive internationalism, as well as the then mayor's internationalist outlook and domestic political ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's coastal cities have been playing a pivotal role in international relations through culture, commerce, and connectivity since the hoary past. In modern times, coastal cities such as Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on the Arabian Coast and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on the Bay of Bengal have been active actors in international affairs. While Mumbai has been the hub of international trade and commerce, Kolkata has been the junction of cultural bonhomie with Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries, which gained more traction due to cross-border movements of technology, information, education, trade and finance, and artistic tools bolstered by the New Economic Policy beginning in the early 1990s. Indian states and metropolitan cities are enhancing their positions in international affairs with tangible gains. Mumbai is referred to as India's financial capital and the home to the headquarters of great global business houses and financial organisations. Similarly, Kolkata is known as the cultural capital of India (Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, Shanti Niketan, Bengali folk art and culture etc.) and a destination for foreign tourists, artists and curious researchers. This paper examines the growth and impact of city diplomacy in India through the prism of federalism in advancing local interests in international politics. It attempts to assess the role of Indian cities from a comparative perspective in the conduct of city diplomacy from economic and cultural aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the study of Colombian foreign policy. Specifically, it applies foreign policy analysis (fpa) methods to the study of Colombian international politics and international relations. Embarking from the analytical framework of International Regimes, the work describes a specific approach to their study, and thereafter traces the process that preceded Colombia's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd). It analyzes how the decision to join the oecd is best understood as a foreign policy strategy on the part of the national government. The paper also offers a preliminary evaluation of the process of institutional adaptation accompanying oecd membership and its impact on Colombian society. The article is based on the analysis of primary sources related to the decision-making process carried out by both the national government and the oecd. Additionally, it uses a variety of other sources to illuminate a foreign policy strategy implemented in a complicated international context, one only made more difficult by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this manner, the paper discusses the challenges and importance of oecd membership, including the delay of its formalization to the point of coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic. Such unfortunate timing has likely contributed to the perception among many Colombians, of the fruitlessness of membership. While indeed complex and challenging, the paper seeks to present the situation of Colombian membership in more nuanced light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the 21st century, an unprecedented theoretical change in perspective took place, and non-Western theoretical approaches began to be developed as an alternative to traditional theories of International Relations. In this way, some specialists began to debate about the emergence and consolidation of a "Chinese School of International Relations", based mostly on the Asian culture. The aim of this paper is to present the main streams of international studies in China, among which the reverse, obverse and interactive approaches stand out. Likewise, it is particularly intended to understand the conception of international cooperation of each of these approaches. In addition, it is intended to highlight the evolution of international studies in China and departs from the assumption that the production and changes of the axis of international studies follow the rise and geographical position of the great powers. In the Chinese case, they have been growing in parallel with its international prominence and the attainment of great power status. The theoretical framework proposed for this research takes as a starting point the so-called non-western theories, that is, all those theories that are not part of the mainstream of the Western International Relations Theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]