Foreign Relations & International Law States & Localities

Lawfare Daily: Why Autocrats Hate Cities with Ambassador Nina Hachigian

Tyler McBrien, Nina Hachigian, Jen Patja
Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 7:00 AM
What U.S. mayors can learn about resisting autocracy from their counterparts abroad?
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On today’s episode, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien sits down with Ambassador Nina Hachigian, President and CEO of the Alliance for Local Leaders International and the first U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy from 2022 to 2025.

They discuss Hachigian’s recent piece in Foreign Affairs, entitled "The Autocrat’s Worst Enemy: Why Despots Hate Cities and the Mayors Who Run Them,” how cities are both “laboratories of democracy” and backstops against democratic backsliding, and what U.S. mayors can learn about resisting autocracy from their counterparts abroad.

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Foreign Relations & International Law States & Localities
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Tyler McBrien

Tyler McBrien

TylerMcBrien
tylermcbrien.com
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Tyler McBrien is the managing editor of Lawfare. He previously worked as an editor with the Council on Foreign Relations and a Princeton in Africa Fellow with Equal Education in South Africa, and holds an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.
Nina Hachigian

Nina Hachigian

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Nina Lucine Hachigian is the founder and CEO of the Alliance for Local Leaders International. She served as the first U.S. special representative for city and state diplomacy in the Biden administration.
Jen Patja

Jen Patja

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Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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