2008 Global Cities Index

In The 2008 Global Cities Index out of the 60 top Global Cities Washington D.C. ranked 11th overall and 4th among cities in the U.S. behind New York (1st) Los Angles (6th) and Chicago (8th). The group ranked the 60 cities on 5 different categories Business Activity, Human Capitol, Information Exchange, Cultural Experience, and Political Engagement. Washington ranked lowest in Business Activity at 35 overall and ranked highest in Political Engagement at 1st overall. The Political Engagement category was focused on the way in which the city influences global policy making and global dialogue. That was done so by examining the number of embassies and consulates, major think tanks, international organizations, sister city relationships, and political conferences there are in the Washington D.C. metro area. One thing that was interesting is that Washington easily beat out Paris, Brussels, London, and New York, which are the other major political cities around the world in global policy. I think that that really reiterates the dominance of the American Political system and its policies.

Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509&page=1