Decentralized international cooperation has become one of the most underestimated—and poorly used—tools by local governments in Mexico. While cities around the world leverage technical assistance, funding, and knowledge exchange to accelerate development, many Mexican cities still treat international cooperation as a secondary, bureaucratic matter, or as an issue reserved exclusively for the federal government. The result is clear:  missed opportunities, wasted resources, and

International engagement does not happen by chance, nor is it an automatic byproduct of globalization. For local international action to deliver real and lasting benefits, it must be  strategically planned, institutionally grounded, and aligned with territorial development goals . In an increasingly competitive global environment, cities that improvise their international outreach risk wasting resources, missing opportunities, and producing low-impact results.   Today, cities

Over the past two decades, Mexican cities have evolved from passive actors in the international arena into key players in a new model of governance:  local international action . Far from being an institutional trend, this shift reflects profound structural transformations driven by economic globalization, accelerated urbanization, and the growing need for local responses to global challenges such as climate change, migration, inequality, and economic competitiveness.   Today