Council Bluffs’ tradition of citizen diplomacy began with the Sister City relationship with Tobolsk, Russian in 1990. The Sister City agreement with Tobolsk was met with a mutual enthusiasm between our two communities that led the way to three decades worth of professional, cultural and medical exchanges. The exchanges with Tobolsk led the way for future collaboration with other international communities around the world. Council Bluffs’ additional Sister Cities include El Hajeb, Morocco, the Karadah District in Baghdad, Iraq, and Herat, Afghanistan. This spirit of cross nation cooperation continues today with the current talks with Prizren, Kosovo as a potential Sister City partner.
The second city that Council Bluffs entered into Sister City relationship is El Hajeb, Morocco in July of 2008. The first delegation from Morocco came to Council Bluffs on July 20th 2008 to visit surrounding business, infrastructure projects, and agriculture sites including “the Google facility, the MidAmerican Energy plant, the Bunge plant, the Lakin human services campus, and the New Visions project.” (Nonpareil 07-13-2008) The delegation also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, the purpose of which is to “‘Support and encourage visits by citizens of both cities, to encourage citizens of both cities to share their experiences, to develop a mutual understanding by exchanging information and materials, and to encourage official visits between representatives from each community’”. (Nonpareil 07-13-2008)
The Moroccan delegation included the Mayor of El Hajeb, the provincial governor Alami Zbadi, and the president of the area’s assembly. The reception of the representative was warmly welcomed with Zbadi saying Council Bluffs is “‘marvelous city and the people are very welcoming’”. (Nonpareil 07-22-2008) This first exchange left an impression on the representatives with the local government of El Hajeb planning on naming a public park after Council Bluffs with Zbadi stating “‘that it will be the best park in the city’”. The warm reception of the El Hajeb delegation helped support Sister Cities International’s goal of creating connections with communities in the Islamic World. The enthusiasm for international goodwill carried on after the El Hajeb delegation with Council Bluffs’ local government being in talks with the Karadah district in Baghdad, Iraq in the same year.
The first meeting with Karadah district leadership was over video conference to sign an agreement of friendship on October 28th 2008. This meeting was facilitated by Lt. Col. Rick Burns, Army Reserve civil support team leader. Lt. Col. Burns hoped to create relationships that have “‘long term value’” and that would “‘provide an opportunity and conduit to facilitate cultural, economic, and governance idea exchanges between citizens of Karadah and Council Bluffs’”. (Nonpareil 1-25-2008)
Karadah is one of nine districts in Baghdad where Burn’s 418th Civil Affairs Battalion was stationed. Karadah is home to many foreign embassies, farmland, and a variety of small businesses. The videoconference meeting held on October 28, 2008 to have both city’s officials sign an Agreement of Friendship was hosted by the Council Bluffs Public Library. The agreement's goals were for Council Bluffs to help Karadah develop several different areas including governance, medical, education, and to "diminish differences between people of all lands” (Karadah-Council Bluffs agreement of friendship). After the signing Karadah District Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Al Rubiey, showed support for the relationship stating, “It’s good to be exchanging culture and ideas between the district councils. We pray from the bottom of our hearts to keep this friendship between our countries.”(Nonpareil 10-30-2008)
After this initial agreement, Lt. Col. Burns would go on to found the Karadah Project International, an organization dedicated to “projects supporting civil development in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Nonpareil 11-04-2014) In November 2014, the Karadah Project and Council Bluffs Sister Cities International Association sponsored Iraqi Humanitarian Hala Sarraf to speak at the Council Bluffs Public Library to promote her work with the Iraqi Health Aid Organization, a nonprofit she founded. (Nonpareil 11-04-2014) In addition to Sarraf’s speaking program, the library hosted another Karadah Project sponsored event #WhatIFoughtFor in February of 2019. #WhatIFoughtFor is an exhibit put together by photographer and US marine corps veteran Tanika Roy, the exhibition “aims to tell the stories of veterans and refugees” (Nonpareil 02-21-2019). Sister Cities International’s goal to create lasting relationships with communities in the Islamic world continued on with a Sister City agreement with Herat, Afghanistan in 2016.
Delegates from Herat, Afghanistan visited Council Bluffs for two weeks to both sign the Sister City Agreement, signed on July 19,2016, and visit surrounding educational and governmental institutions. The delegation from Herat was made up from local government officials including Mayor of Herat Farhad Niayesh, elected member of the provincial council Somaia Ramish, and translator and member of the US embassy in Kabul Zalmai Atterpoor. The wider aim of Sister Cities International to connect islamic communities with US cities was echoed by council member Ramish stating, “‘It’s really important for us that we show a new picture of Herat and Afghanistan to the world… We want to work on exchange programs involving business, education, culture and other areas. It’s important that people of the world hear a positive message from Afghanistan.’” (Nonpareil 07-21-2016)
The first cultural exchange was through a photo exhibit at Iowa Western. The exhibit, “My Sister’s Smile”, provided a look into the day to day lives of the citizens of Herat through the photos of women photographers. Lt. Col. Burns, then a board member of Sister Cities International Council Bluffs, stated the exhibit “‘ is the first of many opportunities that Herat and Council Bluffs will have to share and discover the uniqueness of each city as well as the things we have in common.” The event was a joint effort between Council Bluffs Sister City Association, Herat Sister Cities Committee, New Century Art Guild, and Lt. Col. Burns’ Karadah International Project. Lt. Col. Burns in an additional quote summarized the underlying ideology of Sister Cities International stating, “‘citizen diplomacy efforts are as important as the work of our professional diplomats… if we are to have peace, it will only come through the grassroots efforts of citizen diplomats reaching across national boundaries.’” (Nonpareil 03-02-2017) The humanitarian efforts took on a more tangible impact in November of 2018 with a donation drive for good to displaced Afghan children. Students in Abraham Lincoln High School teacher Sarah Steinmetz’s TAG group collaborated with the Hafeti Girls High School in Herat to supply displaced families with humanitarian supplies and toys. The supply drive was also supported by other Council Bluffs area schools including College View, Franklin and Longfellow Elementary Schools, and Heartland Christian School. (Nonpareil 11-02-2018). The mission of finding common ground between communities was reflected in Abraham Lincoln student Kaitlyn Redding when talking about the amount of stuffed animals donated to the drive stating, “‘When I was little I loved stuffed animals, so I don’t know why it would be different halfway across the world.’” (Nonpareil 11-02-2018) This project was further supported in delivering the goods by the organizations: Women Education for Better Tomorrow, the Council Bluffs Sister Cities Association and the Karadah Project.
The spirit of international cooperation has continued today with the current talks to join in a new Sister City agreement with Prizren, Kosovo. The interest in pursuing a Sister City agreement with Prizren stems from a decades long history of international cooperation on national and local levels. The relationship between our states began after the fall of the Soviet Union with several National Guards aiding Yugoslavia in fully gaining their independence. In 2011, Kosovo’s Security Forces and Iowa’s National guard entered into a State Partnership program due to the several Iowans in the national guard who served in peacekeeping operations to help Kosovo establish itself as a nation. The idea to join our two Cities together began at a reunion between Iowa National Guard and Kosovo Security Forces where the idea gained traction. Matthew Schlutz, a member of both the Iowa National Guard and Council Bluffs Sister City Association, proposed the idea to mayor Matt Walsh. Schlutz commented on what a Sister City agreement would mean for our community, “‘For us, it’s having one more ally out there but it’s also a place for us to show our kids that the world isn’t done learning how to be diplomatic’”. (Nonpareil 11-25-2024) In March 2025, Council Bluffs Public Library hosted Culture Fest to promote that year's Community Read theme “Found Community". This event was an opportunity to promote the current Sister City talks, board chair of Council Bluffs Sister Cities Association Bryan Carolus was there to talk with library patrons about Prizren. The Prizren Sister City relationship further cements Council Bluffs legacy of citizen diplomacy and international collaboration.
