Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is coming under savage criticism for her handling of the fires that are afflicting her city. Some of this criticism may be sound, although it is difficult at this early point to assess responsibility for the disaster. One critique that’s entirely off base, however, is the idea that she failed in her civic duty because she was traveling abroad, in violation of one of her own election pledges.
The problem isn’t that Bass violated the promise she made about foreign travel. The problem is that the promise was foolish and irresponsible, and she never should have made it at all. Foreign travel is a major component of her job, and her pledge to avoid it has left her open to bad faith criticism.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is coming under savage criticism for her handling of the fires that are afflicting her city. Some of this criticism may be sound, although it is difficult at this early point to assess responsibility for the disaster. One critique that’s entirely off base, however, is the idea that she failed in her civic duty because she was traveling abroad, in violation of one of her own election pledges.
The problem isn’t that Bass violated the promise she made about foreign travel. The problem is that the promise was foolish and irresponsible, and she never should have made it at all. Foreign travel is a major component of her job, and her pledge to avoid it has left her open to bad faith criticism.
The U.S. constitutional order reserves critical foreign-policy responsibilities for the federal government. However, the leadership of states and localities has always had duties that require engagement with the global community. This has only become more acute as networks of global trade and social integration have become an everyday reality for U.S. municipalities.
Governors and the mayors of large cities cannot avoid international politics because their constituents depend socially, culturally, and economically upon global engagement.
My own state, Kentucky, is nearly double landlocked and about as far from an international border and global shipping lanes as possible while still being in the United States. And yet, the governor of Kentucky and the mayors of Lexington and Louisville have international responsibilities.
Kentucky’s most important industries—agriculture, bourbon, aerospace, equestrianism—are deeply tied to global markets and heavily dependent on international investment and tourism. Consequently, its governors and other elected officials regularly conduct foreign travel to countries as far flung as China and India, to develop relationships with the international community and to look out for the interests of their constituents. Most people don’t understand that Kentucky, deep in the American heartland, needs its own foreign policy.
Even before Donald Trump, the ways in which Americans talked about foreign travel were inflected by a rump populism that prized ignorance and facilitated xenophobia. Critics are fond of implying politicians are enjoying vacations at taxpayers’ expense, while the reality is foreign travel for a public official is almost invariably onerous and exhausting. Bass’s much-derided trip to Ghana, for example, involved more time in the air than on the ground.
And if landlocked Kentucky needs a foreign policy, then all the more so for LA, which is one of the most important cities on the Pacific Rim. With a population of 3.8 million, LA would be larger than some 50 members of the United Nations. Its position on the West Coast of North America makes it a hub of transit and international commerce. The major industries in LA (most notably the film industry) have become extraordinarily dependent on international market dynamics, from which films China will let into its theaters this year to copyright disputes in Europe. This feeds into the Southern Californian tourism industry, which is enormously important for the livelihoods of Angelenos. Moreover, LA’s population is among the most diverse in the world, with huge Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African communities.
All the foreign trips for which Bass has received criticism are justifiable from viewpoint of LA’s interests. That LA benefits from good relations with Mexico (and consequently of the personal relationships developed during Bass’s visit to Mexico City for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s inauguration) should go without saying. Her travel to Paris was necessary to facilitate LA’s hosting of the 2028 Olympic Games. Her most recent trip, to Ghana, was at the request of President Joe Biden as part of a diplomatic initiative to bring a critically important African nation closer to the United States.
With modern communications technology, Bass was never out of touch with LA’s decision-making apparatus. While remote leadership has its drawbacks, especially with respect to the symbolic requirements of leadership in a time of crisis, Bass was in continuous contact with her deputies and was able to monitor developments in real time. The actual consequences on the ground for her absence are negligible.
The United States is a global nation with global interests. Cities and states have international connections the health of which are critical to their functioning as social, cultural, and economic communities. Mayors and governors have every responsibility to nurture and grow these connections, and those responsibilities often require foreign travel. The media, elected officials, and especially voters need to grow up and take these responsibilities seriously, rather than using them as grist for ignorant and xenophobic political talking points.
