BBC: Why are towns un-twinning? (usually called 'sister cities' in the US)
The notion of twinning - known elsewhere as sister cities or friendship towns - is a tradition stretching back almost a century in the UK. And bsuch arrangements once symbolised an idealistic postwar spirit of reconciliation.
...the practice took off in earnest after World War II, with community leaders keen both to heal the divisions of the conflict and seek support in rebuilding. Coventry, which suffered heavy bombing, twinned with Stalingrad (now Volgograd) and then Dresden, which had suffered similar fates. The turning point in public attitudes appears to have come in the 1980s, when battles flared between Margaret Thatcher's government and several left-wing councils.
The focus of the connection comes each summer, when pupils from Sandy's schools travel to Skarszewy to teach English. The visit comes at no cost to the British taxpayer, Hill says - students fund their own flights and their accommodation and food is paid for by the Polish local authority.
"The kids get a huge amount out of it," he says. "They're in a totally different environment, they learn a lot and they make friends. "They broaden their perspectives - cultural, linguistic, social. As a country we remain very insular - we're probably not as bad as the Americans, but more so than most countries in Europe."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16408111
A town just north of us, Yellow Springs, is very liberal and has the Nicaraguan city of El Jícaro in Nueva Segovia province as its sister city. I don't think Yellow Springs residents have any intention of severing that relationship. My apologies to the spirit of Margaret Thatcher. 