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Sister City Diplomacy
Community Engagement in U.S.–Russian Relations from the Cold War to Today
Douglas C. Nord
“An engaging book, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the lived experiences of sister cities that managed to build a strong and lasting relationship at the end of the Cold War. Solid research and clear writing offer not just historical analysis but a how-to on building and maintaining citizen diplomacy.”
—Margaret Peacock, author of Innocent Weapons: The Soviet and American Politics of Childhood in the Cold War
Bridging divides, people-to-people
In 1987, Duluth, Minnesota, in the Midwestern United States, and Petrozavodsk, in what is now Russia, officially joined hands as sister cities. Douglas C. Nord tells the stories of their collaboration in the context of the late Cold War. He covers in ethnographic detail the lived experiences of city officials, community leaders, academics, and average citizens who worked to bridge the divide between the United States and the Soviet Union. What circumstances supported or undermined efforts to conduct people-to-people diplomacy? What internal difficulties emerged, and how were they overcome? And what were the short-term effects and long-term consequences of the relationships forged in these postindustrial cities, across the East–West divide?
Sister City Diplomacy offers a historical account of citizen diplomacy set in a unique political and social environment. But in its theoretical grounding and informed arguments, this study speaks to much broader and contemporary concerns, both in terms of United States–Russian relations today and with regard to the challenges and opportunities of community-based diplomacy in general. Lessons learned along the shores of lakes Superior and Onega in the last days of the Cold War hold great value given the heightened tensions of current geopolitics.
Douglas C. Nord is a visiting professor and research scholar at Umeå University, Sweden. He is the author of The Changing Arctic: Consensus Building and Governance in the Arctic Council and The Arctic Council: Governance Within the Far North and the editor of Nordic Perspectives on the Responsible Development of the Arctic: Pathways to Action and Leadership for the North: The Influence and Impact of Arctic Council Chairs.
Praise
“Nord should be congratulated for identifying a significant gap in our understanding of the history of U.S.–Soviet relations. This volume greatly adds to our knowledge of how non-state actors can influence international politics, contributing to the fields of international relations and public diplomacy as well as to regional history.”
—Alexey Golubev, author of The Things of Life: Materiality in Late Soviet Russia
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: An Introduction
Chapter 2: Diplomacy at a Local Level
Chapter 3: U.S.–Soviet Relations During the Cold War and Détente
Chapter 4: Duluth and Petrozavodsk: The Domestic Setting
Chapter 5: Beginnings and Initial Contacts
Chapter 6: Duluth’s Sister-City Relationship with Petrozavodsk
Chapter 7: The Evolving Relationship: Growth and Uncertainty
Chapter 8: U.S.–Russian Relations: Then and Now
Chapter 9: Community Diplomacy Today
Chapter 10: Summary and Conclusions
Conclusion
References
Index
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Larger images
June 2025
224 pp. 6 x 9
3 tables
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