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Regarding the headline: why do Americans say "international" when they actually mean "not American"?

Because there's no commonly used word in English to represent "not American"?

UPD: there is

Then you'll run into the new problem, that in context of kinda-international HN it will sound a bit off.

The common English word "foreign" has that meaning and is perfectly well available in American English. But it seems like Americans think it's rude or insensitive to say "foreign" and say "international" (whose primary meaning is different) instead. I am interested, what's going on?

I've just noticed that the list in question has multiple cities within the USA. So it is an international list, really.

As a citizen of the US and native English speaker, I would say the connotations differ.

"International" - similarity to US / Western political systems and values, but not in the geographic boundaries of the US

"Foreign" - different from / opposed to (depending on how xenophobic whoever you're talking to is) US / Western political systems and values

So, in many ways mirroring the definitions. International is a thing in and of itself. Foreign is a relationship to something else.

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