The Autocrats’ Worst Enemy: Why Despots Fear Mayors

Host Lauren Anderson sits down with Ambassador Nina Hachigian, founder and CEO of the Alliance for Local Leaders International, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and connecting mayors and governors globally to solve shared challenges. Drawing from her recent Foreign Affairs article, “The Autocrats’ Worst Enemy,” Hachigian explains why mayors are the most trusted level of government (70% trust, held for decades) and how in autocracies around the world, they have served on the front lines to protect democratic freedoms.

She shares harrowing examples: the mayor of Gdańsk assassinated for his support of LGBTQ rights; the mayor of Caracas jailed for leading protests; and Istanbul’s mayor thrown in jail and facing 2,000 years of sham charges. She discusses how the current US administration is using classic authoritarian tactics including weaponizing federal funding against states and cities that didn’t support the president’s election.

She offers hope through local innovation (participatory budgeting) and civic engagement–volunteering, connecting and communicating with local representatives, and the simple act of getting to know your neighbors. Her message: “Mayors are the canaries in the coal mine,” when assessing the health of our democracy. And local democracy is where renewal begins.

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Guest info: Ambassador Nina Hachigian is the founder and CEO of the Alliance for Local Leaders International, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and connecting mayors and governors globally to solve shared challenges. She served as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Deputy Mayor for International Affairs for Los Angeles, and the first U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy at the State Department. She also served on the National Security Council staff during the Clinton administration. She is the editor of Debating China: The US-China Relationship in 10 Conversations and co-author of The Next American Century: How the US Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.