01266nam a2200133   4500008004100000100001900041245006200060260000900122300001500131520092500146650001401071700002201085773002501107190802b           ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aStren, Richard  aToronto and Sao Paulo: Cities and international diplomacy  c2019  ap.375-404.  aWith globalization, the largest cities in the world have been growing in economic importance. And their local powers have often been enhanced as a result of decentralization reforms over the past two decades. In this context, cities—and particularly their mayors—have been reaching out to other cities and jurisdictions to pursue a variety of goals. One term for this process is “paradiplomacy,” but most of the literature on the subject gives little attention to the local political dynamics behind these initiatives. In this article, we explore these local dynamics through a comparison of two major cities, Toronto, Canada, and São Paulo, Brazil. The cases show that external initiatives, both in scope and direction, vary according to the political strategies of the elected mayors. These strategies are strongly affected by the local context and by the political logic of mayoral leadership. - Reproduced.  aDiplomacy  aFriendly, Abigail  aUrban Affairs Review