Bandung as an International Relations Actor Through the Collaboration of Bandung and Fort Worth Sister City in International Leadership Academy Program

Pemerintah Kota merupakan salah satu subjek yang mulai berkiprah di dunia internasional. Di sisi lain, kota dipandang sebagai lembaga dalam 'global governance' yang bekerja sama untuk memecahkan masalah global secara global. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan kota Bandung dalam menampilkan dirinya sebagai subjek hubungan internasional melalui implementasi kerjasama sister city antara kota Bandung dan kota Forth Worth dalam program International Leadership Academy (ILA). Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan pengumpulan data melalui wawancara dan studi pustaka. Sedangkan kerangka konseptual yang digunakan terdiri dari konsep kerjasama internasional dan konsep sister city. Sejak tahun 2010 hingga tahun 2021 delegasi kota Bandung yaitu siswa SMA didampingi oleh pengawas dan karyawan mengikuti program ILA yang diadakan setiap tahun di Kota Fort Worth. Kehadiran delegasi ini mewakili Kota Bandung sebagai subjek hubungan internasional. Melalui kegiatan ILA di kota Fort Worth dengan siswa SMA Bandung sebagai delegasinya, kota Bandung dijamin kehadirannya di kancah internasional hampir setiap tahun. Namun sayangnya, Pemerintah Kota Bandung tidak sepenuhnya mendukung kegiatan program pertukaran pemuda ILA yang diadakan di kota Fort Worth. Padahal dukungan ini penting untuk menjaga kelangsungan keberadaan Kota Bandung sebagai subjek dalam hubungan internasional.


INTRODUCTION
The occurrence of globalization began to show an increase in interaction between various actors in the world at various levels. The interactions built by these actors in order to achieve their respective interests (Bainus & Rachman, 2018;Pramanta et al., 2019). The City Government is one of the actors who are starting to get involved in the international world. On the other hand, cities are seen as agencies in 'global governance' that work together to solve global problems global (Carlsnaes et al., 2013;Weiss, 2000). Cities begin to have authority in international relations by conducting international cooperation (Chapman & Tsuji, 2020;Snidal & Reus-Smit, 2010). International cooperation means governments and institutions developing common standards and creating programs that take into account benefits and also problems that can potentially be extended to more than one society and even to all the international community (Minca, 2015;Sato, 2010).The understanding that the cooperation between the City Government is part of international cooperation is also explained by previous study who state that bilateral cooperation involves two groups or countries (Minca, 2015). At the local level, the cooperation emphasizes the relationship between the two cities to solve problems of interest at the local level (Minca, 2015). One form of cooperation between cities from different countries is sister city cooperation.
Sister city or twin town is an agreement between local governments that are geographically and politically separated but have common interests (Divina & Roldan, 2018;Putri, 2017). The agreement is based on the similarities between the two cities, such as culture, economy, culture to historical connectivity (Divina & Roldan, 2018;Titiyani & Rani, 2014). In practice, sister city is a cooperative relationship between the City Government that continues to develop. There are three distinct but interrelated and overlapping phases of development. The first phase is called the associative phase, which is a phase based on friendship and cultural exchange. The second phase is the reciprocatively phase, which is a phase based on educational exchange and people exchange. The last phase is a commercial exchange based on economic development (de Villiers et al., 2007;Liu & Hu, 2018). Sister city is a form of cooperation that has been carried out by many cities in the world where in its implementation it covers various fields and various programs, although in its implementation not everything goes well. In practice, the sister city cooperative relationship may fail. The sister city relationship between Semarang and Beihai City was said to have failed because there was no follow-up from both sides of the City Government to continue the sister city program (Mahyuni & Syahrin, 2021;Putri, 2017). There is also the failure of sister city cooperation in the case study of soybean imports between Malang City and Fuqing City.
Soybean import cooperation between Malang City and Fuqing City was unable to compete in quality with America and the lack of communication between the two cities to discuss the issue (Fikhri Khairi et al., 2021). Then there is also a form of sister city practice between the City of Brisbane and the City of Semarang which is not running effectively. Previous study provides an overview of the number of cooperation program agreements between the two cities that do not work due to several things, such as the lack of understanding of the regional regulations on their duties and authorities, the unexplored potential of the region to the fear of disputes if the hope of cooperation is not achieved (Titiyani & Rani, 2014). There is also a sister city collaboration between the city of Bandung and the city of Fort Worth from 1990 to the present, which will be used as a reference in this research. The dynamics of the relationship between the city of Bandung and the city of Fort Worth had experienced a setback since the economic crisis hit various parts of the world. However, the City of Bandung is still collaborating with the City of Fort Worth because of the development of resources through student exchanges and training for community services, in addition to the joint work on helicopter parts between PT. Dirgantara Indonesia with PT. Bell Helicopters (Joanita, 2016).
The City of Bandung itself has been involved in the ILA cooperation program with the City of Fort Worth since 2010. Almost every year, the City of Bandung sends its delegation to be involved in the program until 2020. Although there has been research on the effectiveness of the sister city cooperation relationship, it is still There are some limitations of research, especially regarding the involvement of actors in the sister city program, which is still ongoing today, as is the case with the involvement of the City of Bandung in the ILA sister city program with the City of Fort Worth. This study aims to determine the involvement of the City of Bandung in the ILA program and the extent of the role of the City Government in the cooperation. However, in the formulation and implementation of real cooperation programs, not all Bandung sister city collaborations run or produce as expected from their initial goals and designations. However, the existence of the city of Bandung as an actor of international relations is still maintained and its continuity.

METHODS
This study used a descriptive qualitative method to create an overview of the facts that occur in the phenomenon being studied (Creswell, 2014;Sugiyono, 2014). The research method used is qualitative research with data collection through interviews and literature studies. Meanwhile, the conceptual framework used consists of the concept of international cooperation and the concept of sister city. The data collection method used in this study are the result of interviews and documents from the informants involved and literature studies such as books, journals and websites. Meanwhile, the conceptual framework used consists of the concept of international cooperation and the concept of sister city. From 2010 to 2021 the Bandung city delegation, namely high school students, accompanied by supervisors and employees participated in the ILA program which is held every year in the City of Fort Worth. The city of Bandung and the city of Fort Worth are two cities that are located far from each other and on different continents (Asia and America). In addition, the two cities differ in many ways. However, this does not prevent the two cities from cooperating with each other in the form of sister city cooperation, because both have similarities in their interests to become significant actors in international relations. The sister city collaboration between the City of Bandung and the City of Fort Worth was motivated by the establishment of the IPTN collaboration with the BELL helicopter factory in America, at that time BJ Habibie was still the main director of IPTN. The Bandung-Forth Worth cooperation agreement was then followed by the signing of a cooperation agreement on April 2 nd , 1990.

Results
Cooperation agreements are carried out and continued in various fields including economics, training, arts to socio-culture. Since the initial signing of the cooperation agreement, the sister city cooperation agreement between the City of Bandung and the City of Fort Worth will be automatically renewed for the next five (5) years if neither party terminates the cooperative relationship. The existence of the interest of the city of Bandung in improving its human resources is the next reason for the city of Bandung to cooperate with the sister city. This is realized through the International Leadership Academy (ILA) program in Fort Worth. The ILA program is part of an event organized by Sister Cities International. Sister Cities International is an organization founded in 1956 by American President Dwight D. Eisenhower to create formal partnerships with overseas cities. Sister Cities International exists as a forum that is expected to accommodate the exchange of information and ideas to develop friendships between cities and deepen cultural understanding. More than 500 cities in the United States have partnered with cities in 145 countries.
The Sister Cities International Organization which hosts the International Sister Cities Annual Conference is one of the reasons for holding the ILA program. The annual conference brings hundreds of people from around the world to the City of Fort Worth. The ILA program was created to complement the first five years of the City of Fort Worth sister city. The program is designed to foster peace and understanding, especially among youth. ILA's activities are in the form of summer camps to learn about global culture and diplomacy. The program also connects the City of Bandung with other countries affiliated with the city of Fort Worth. Through this, the city of Bandung sent its delegation to bring Indonesian culture in general and Bandung culture in particular. With the ILA program as well, the city of Bandung gets a network to collaborate between schools or school links with schools in various cities such as Fort Worth, one of them (Joanita, 2016). The students from the city of Bandung who were involved also brought their special food and traditional clothes to be introduced. The form of the ILA program of activities carried out by the City of Fort Worth to encourage students in more than 100 high schools (SMA) to think critically about current issues. In this program, participants will learn leadership and communication skills through cross-cultural activities such as art, music, and language learning. The activity was led by several experienced educators. Each member of the delegation uses the host family system during the ILA program, which means that the Bandung City delegation will live with their family from Fort Worth.
There are requirements that must be possessed by participants who will take part in the ILA program activities through a selection process. The requirements are to be proficient in English, have good academic grades and master the arts or other skills. The costs used by students to participate in the program are private funds and there has been no intervention from the Bandung City Government to provide funds. So that delegates participating in these activities are only limited to those who are financially capable. So far, most of the students participating in the ILA program are from SMA Negeri 5 Bandung. The participation of participants from the city of Bandung for the first time in 2010 was 17 participants. After their return, they as ILA alumni were asked by the Bandung City Government to participate in sharing their experiences and knowledge in Fort Worth City. This was done in the event "Debriefing for Bandung City Delegation Students in the International Leadership Academy" which is held annually to provide debriefing to prospective delegates who will depart next (Joanita, 2016).
In 2011 the City of Bandung sent 15 students to take part in the ILA program which was held in the City of Fort Worth on July 16 to 31. The 15 participants were students from Junior High School and Senior High School who had gone through the selection process. The students became ambassadors to promote the advantages possessed by Indonesia, especially the city of Bandung. The release of members of the Bandung City delegation was officially released by the Deputy Mayor of Bandung Ayi Vivananda who served in the period 2008-2013 at Bandung City Hall. In 2012 the City of Bandung sent a delegation back to participate in the ILA program. Through the ILA program, it is intended to increase the knowledge of students from the city of Bandung and from the city of Forth Worth about education in Indonesia and the United States, broaden their horizons as well as increase friendships (Muhamad & Trang, 2019).
In 2013, 12 participants from Bandung participated in the ILA program which was held on July 13-28. In the ILA program, participants will share a room with participants from other countries. Participants will attend classes intended to promote culture to develop leadership skills. Activities are also filled with trips to local museums and also visits to the Fort Worth Stockyards which is one of the historic districts in Fort Worth. The 2013 program promotes global understanding by building friendships and creating awareness of international issues (Joanita, 2016). In 2014, 6 participants from Bandung were enrolled in the ILA program and student exchange between SMA 5 Bandung and Arlington Height High School. Meanwhile, in 2015 and 2016 participants from Bandung who took part in the ILA program were 9 and 3 participants accompanied by 1 teacher. In 2015, the ILA program was held for about 2 weeks from July 18 to August 2 with the theme "Energy, Environment and Education".
Then in 2016, the ILA program was held on June 21 with the theme "Building a Culture of Health". In that year, the City of Bandung only sent 3 delegates to be involved in the ILA program with 1 companion. The following year in 2017, ILA was held from 15 to 30 July with the theme "The Art of Diplomacy". In 2018, the ILA was held from July 12 to July 26 with the theme "Meet the World in Fort Worth". In 2017 and 2018 the City of Bandung did not participate and the ILA program was still carried out in the City of Fort Worth with the same agenda as in previous years. The ILA program continued in the City of Fort Worth from 2010 to 2018. 2019 was the first year the ILA program was not conducted in the City of Fort Worth. The program was conducted in Nagaoka City, Japan as well as celebrating the 30th anniversary of the summer leadership program. Participants who took part were the result of further selection from the City of Fort Worth who would join students from other countries such as Swantini, Hungary, Italy and Japan. Participants from the city of Bandung who took part in the event were 3 people.
ILA activities in 2019 started on August 1 to August 11 with the theme being "peace through innovation". The aim is to encourage students to focus on current and critical issues. The program provided is a program carried out to achieve communication and leadership skills through cross-cultural activities. The culture in question is art, music and language learning. Participants will stay with their host families in Nagaoka. The activities carried out in Nagaoka are the same as the activities carried out in the ILA program as before. These activities also include visiting museums, reviewing cultural locations to business areas. Nancy Marchant as ILA coordinator said that during the program, participants will be challenged to improve and refine their leadership skills and learn about cultural diversity that will support the achievement of common goals.
The Bandung City Government sees that the ILA program will be able to improve the leadership of participants, increase college and career opportunities, experience living with a Japanese family, experience the rich and unique Japanese culture, strengthen perspectives and appreciation of other cultures, and lastly, be able to develop friendships with students-student from another country. In addition, through ILA, delegates from the City of Bandung can use it as an event to promote Bandung culture. During the activity, an event session was held to display and present the culture of each region. Every year, delegates from each city, such as the city of Bandung, present different arts. The performances made by the Bandung City delegation were performances that had previously been trained before participating in ILA activities. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit many countries in the world, such as Indonesia and even America. The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak can be seen in almost all sectors of people's lives, such as the reduction in social activities, the weakening of the economy to doing work and learning online. Nevertheless, ILA is still being carried out, which takes place in Nagaoka, Japan, virtually, namely the Virtual International Leadership Academy (VILA). VILA through online application-based especially Zoom and Facebook with no charge for participants. Participants who take part are required to have a commitment to prepare for a few hours one day a week.
Just like ILA is conducted offline, the purpose of the VILA is to achieve leadership skills through art, music and language studies. In the VILA activity program, the activities carried out by the participants are still the same. Each participant will be given a project or task and a group will be formed randomly along with participants from other cities. Students are not grouped according to a country-by-country system, but are mixed with representatives from other countries with one group consisting of 8-10 people. VILA program students hold online meetings during weekdays, Monday to Friday with a 4-hour gap. This is done because there are tasks or projects that must be done simultaneously. One of the obstacles of the VILA program is the different time zones in each area.
The values obtained from the results of participating in the ILA and VILA programs as benefits for the delegates included the courage to express opinions, better understand how to deal with, behave, and act with participants from various backgrounds and cultures. In addition, the experience of interacting with foreigners and a more open mind and no longer limited by the walls of the country. However, the practice of sister city cooperation as in the ILA between the Bandung City Government and the Fort Worth City Government has its drawbacks. In this case is the lack of role of the Bandung City Government. Because those who run the program are not part of the City Government. Like the Bandung City Government, part of the Bandung City Education Office is also not directly involved in the youth cooperation program, especially ILA. The City Government has not yet formed a special staff assigned to carry out the cooperation. The party who coordinates the students as delegates from the City of Bandung and dispatches them is not part of the Bandung City Government but from outside parties such as high school teachers from the participants concerned.
Financially, there is no financial assistance at all from the Bandung City Government in the youth cooperation program. On the other hand, the summer camp program conducted by the City of Fort Worth, especially the ILA, is a non-profit program. The City of Fort Worth provides facilities such as teaching staff and housing for delegates and supervisors. Another drawback is that the ILA program which was participated in by the City of Bandung through its delegation has not been distributed evenly to all schools. There are costs that must be borne by the participants themselves (students and supervisors) making it an obstacle to the greater number of ILA program participants. Due to the lack of a quota for the number of participants from the City of Bandung, it is not every year that the City of Bandung is present in the City of Fort Worth. In actual practice, the Bandung City Government has indeed built sister city relations in presenting itself as an actor in international relations, but its implementation has not been carried out seriously and carefully, especially in the ILA program.

Discussion
Sister city or twin town is an agreement between local governments that are geographically and politically separated but have common interests (Divina & Roldan, 2018;Putri, 2017). The agreement is based on the similarities between the two cities, such as culture, economy, culture to historical connectivity (Divina & Roldan, 2018;Titiyani & Rani, 2014). In practice, sister city is a cooperative relationship between the City Government that continues to develop. There are three distinct but interrelated and overlapping phases of development. The first phase is called the associative phase, which is a phase based on friendship and cultural exchange. The second phase is the reciprocatively phase, which is a phase based on educational exchange and people exchange. The last phase is a commercial exchange based on economic development (de Villiers et al., 2007;Liu & Hu, 2018). Sister city is a form of cooperation that has been carried out by many cities in the world where in its implementation it covers various fields and various programs, although in its implementation not everything goes well. In practice, the sister city cooperative relationship may fail. The sister city relationship between Semarang and Beihai City was said to have failed because there was no follow-up from both sides of the City Government to continue the sister city program (Mahyuni & Syahrin, 2021;Putri, 2017). There is also the failure of sister city cooperation in the case study of soybean imports between Malang City and Fuqing City.
Soybean import cooperation between Malang City and Fuqing City was unable to compete in quality with America and the lack of communication between the two cities to discuss the issue (Fikhri Khairi et al., 2021). Then there is also a form of sister city practice between the City of Brisbane and the City of Semarang which is not running effectively. Previous study provides an overview of the number of cooperation program agreements between the two cities that do not work due to several things, such as the lack of understanding of the regional regulations on their duties and authorities, the unexplored potential of the region to the fear of disputes if the hope of cooperation is not achieved (Titiyani & Rani, 2014). There is also a sister city collaboration between the city of Bandung and the city of Fort Worth from 1990 to the present, which will be used as a reference in this research. The dynamics of the relationship between the city of Bandung and the city of Fort Worth had experienced a setback since the economic crisis hit various parts of the world. However, the City of Bandung is still collaborating with the City of Fort Worth because of the development of resources through student exchanges and training for community services, in addition to the joint work on helicopter parts between PT. Dirgantara Indonesia with PT. Bell Helicopters (Joanita, 2016).

CONCLUSION
The city of Bandung is present as a significant actor, especially in the ILA program. This is evidenced by the sending of delegates almost every year since Bandung was first involved in the program. Although in practice, there are several indicators that make the involvement of the City of Bandung said to be ineffective. The first is the lack of role of the Bandung City Government to be involved in the program.