How to Spot Citizen Diplomacy.

| Public and Cultural Diplomacy 3

4/21/14 3:53 PM

Public and Cultural Diplomacy 3 A group blog by students at London Metropolitan University

How to Spot Citizen Diplomacy.

by narinehgh on April 3, 2012 Citizen diplomacy is the concept that an individual has the right, possibly even responsibility, to help shape their countrys foreign relations, and promote their nation. These individuals can be anyone from a student, teacher, tourist and so on. There is no limitation to who can be a citizen diplomat. David Hoffman first devised the phrase citizen diplomacy, in 1981. Since this time, it has become used more often and become a more notable notion. It has become one of the centre points of nation branding, as it is purely non governmental. This allows people to passionately talk and listen about countries or events around the world. While exploring citizen diplomacy, it can be said that it surrounds us. The smallest details of day-today life can be considered as citizen diplomacy. For most of the time, citizen diplomats do not even know that they are being citizen diplomats. Its has such a broad variety of definitions that as good as anything you do can fall under its umbrella. It is clear that talking about your country (whether the one you live in, or the one you are originally from) is one of the greatest forms of citizen diplomacy. We can even go as far to say that your accent is a form of citizen diplomacy. When going over seas, whether to travel/study/work, your accent is one of the first things that differentiate you from the local public. Once your accent is heard, people automatically converse with you about where you are from, this generally escalates into a conversation about the country itself. At this time, without realising, you have become a citizen diplomat promoting your nation. Citizen diplomacy is one of the easiest and simplest forms of nation branding. It is free and word of mouth can be said to be one of the most trusted forms as there is generally no hidden agenda. With the current drama surrounding Iran and Israel, a campaign has been set up by the Iranians and Israelis worldwide to show that, despite what the governments and political world wants, they want peace. It is an online campaign, mainly across Facebook and Twitter, in order to show the respect they have for each other and that neither nationals want war. This is a prime example of citizen diplomacy as the public has spoken out and is trying to gain recognition to their cause, because ultimately it is the public who are going to greatly suffer.

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How to Spot Citizen Diplomacy. | Public and Cultural Diplomacy 3

4/21/14 3:53 PM

(https://publicandculturaldiplomacy3.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/534072_329138837143800_3263014540 With the increase in globalization, people are more likely to have encounters face to face. This way people can listen and engage better and share common interests and values. In this society, citizen diplomacy and globalization are interlocked. Governments support interactions between citizens with similar interests i.e. artists, scholars etc. They also encourage non-governmental organisations and businesses to pursue the foreign public. Safari Power Saver Click to Start Flash Plug-in

The National Council for International Visitors motto states that citizen diplomacy is the concept that the individual has the right, even the responsibility to help shape U.S. foreign relations, one handshake at a time.

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How to Spot Citizen Diplomacy. | Public and Cultural Diplomacy 3

4/21/14 3:53 PM

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One Comment 1. stevencurtislm permalink Thank you for your thoughts on this subject. This is a nicely presented piece. You are right that citizen diplomacy is a difficult concept to define or confine, as all sorts of activities can be labelled that way. The connection between citizen diplomacy and nation branding is interesting. While Anholt stresses the importance of word of mouth and personal relations, I have not come across explicit references to citizen diplomacy in the nation branding literature: the former tends to appear in peace and conflict studies literature, the latter in the marketing literature. While there is obviously a clear connection, nation branders probably think of citizen diplomacy in a much more passive sense of presenting your country abroad rather than transforming conflicts and world politics more generally. Indeed, more radical interpretations of citizen diplomacy stress complete independence from state identities and interests, which they see as part of the problem of competitive and potentially violent world politics. The nation branders simply embrace the competition. I was interested to read that the phrase citizen diplomacy was only coined in the 1980s. I thought it went back to at least the 1950s with Eisenhowers initiative. Please explore this a little more and provide a reference to Hoffman. Did he give the concept a particular twist? Perhaps you could explore these issues in more depth, with some reference to the literature, when you come to revise this entry for inclusion in your seminar log at the end of the module. Reply

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