Civic Intelligence

San Diego Global

March 2026 | Frontier Catalyst

Core Brief

San Diego's International Economy: Hidden in Plain Sight

America's Finest City already has an international economy. A $36 billion defense economy, $20B+ international pharma acquisitions, 50,000 daily border crossers. The case for institutional capacity to measure and manage an economic engine that is already global.

Comparative Assessment

Institutional Analysis of Peer Cities

How peer cities invest in international engagement: Houston, Melbourne, Toronto, Amsterdam. Eight cities across seven dimensions.

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Case Studies

Defense Technology

San Diego's defense cluster: $36B annually, allied procurement, General Atomics, Shield AI, AUKUS Pillar II.

Technology Sector

Semiconductors, defense AI, and edge computing. Qualcomm, ASML, Apple's C1 Modem, Kneron.

International capital and the research-to-acquisition flywheel. $20B+ from seven nations.

San Diego, the Netherlands, and ASML

Subnational diplomacy and measurement: a $3.7B acquisition, a Rancho Bernardo IP factory, a 2022 trade mission, and a $30M-per-year air route by 2024.

Reference

Evidence Registry

168 claims, confidence-tiered

Every quantitative claim sourced, verified, and tiered. The evidentiary backbone for all products in this package.