A Greater Role for Cultural Diplomacy

Cultural diplomacy, a little studied tool of diplomacy, is generally regarded as just one of the components of public diplomacy. When better understood, however, it has the potential to become a much more powerful tool for improving a country's image and its relations with other countries. It may also contribute to domestic nation-building. This paper defines and updates the concept of cultural diplomacy and explores the possible roles it may play domestically and internationally. A case is made for governments to make better use of the practice of cultural diplomacy, given its effectiveness in reaching government and non-government audiences.

Simon Mark works for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand's economic development agency. His PhD research at the University of Auckland, completed in 2008, examined the cultural diplomacy of Canada, India and New Zealand (it is available at http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/2943). His career has included a short stint as New Zealand's trade commissioner in Fiji and involvement in cultural diplomacy programmes with New Zealand's Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the New Zealand High Commission in London.