Citizen diplomacy
Encyclopedia
Citizen diplomacy is the political concept of average citizens engaging as representatives of a country or cause either inadvertently or by design. Citizen diplomacy may take place when official channels are not reliable or desirable; for instance, if two countries do not formally recognize each other's governments, citizen diplomacy may be an ideal tool of statecraft. Citizen diplomacy does not have to be direct negotiations between two parties, but can take the form of: scientific exchanges, cultural exchanges, and international athletic events.
Citizen diplomacy can complement official diplomacy or subvert it. Some nations ban track-two efforts like this when they run counter to official foreign policy.
One of the pioneers of citizen diplomacy, physicist Robert W. Fuller
, traveled frequency to the Soviet Union
in the 1970s and 1980s in the effort to alleviate the Cold War
. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dr. Fuller continued this work in political hot spots around the world and developed the idea of reducing rankism
to promote peace. The phrase "citizen diplomacy" was first coined by David Hoffman in an article about Dr. Fuller's work which appeared in Co-Evolution Quarterly in 1981. Anti-nuclear
groups like Clamshell Alliance
and ECOLOGIA have sought to thwart US policy through "grassroots" initiatives with Soviet and (later) former Soviet groups.
Citizen diplomacy can complement official diplomacy or subvert it. Some nations ban track-two efforts like this when they run counter to official foreign policy.
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.” Citizen diplomats can be students, teachers, athletes, artists, business people, humanitarians, adventurers or tourists. They are motivated by a responsibility to engage with the rest of the world in a meaningful, mutually beneficial dialogue.
One of the pioneers of citizen diplomacy, physicist Robert W. Fuller
Robert W. Fuller
Robert W. Fuller earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University in 1961, and taught at Columbia University where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics...
, traveled frequency to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the 1970s and 1980s in the effort to alleviate the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dr. Fuller continued this work in political hot spots around the world and developed the idea of reducing rankism
Rankism
Rankism is "abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people because of their rank in a particular hierarchy".Rank-based abuse underlies many other phenomena such as bullying, racism, sexism, and homophobia. The term "rankism" was coined by physicist, educator, and citizen diplomat...
to promote peace. The phrase "citizen diplomacy" was first coined by David Hoffman in an article about Dr. Fuller's work which appeared in Co-Evolution Quarterly in 1981. Anti-nuclear
Anti-nuclear
The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes the use of nuclear technologies. Many direct action groups, environmental groups, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, national, and international level...
groups like Clamshell Alliance
Clamshell Alliance
The Clamshell Alliance is an anti-nuclear organization co-founded by Paul Gunter, Howie Hawkins, Harvey Wasserman, Guy Chichester and other activists in 1976. The alliance's coalescence began in 1975 as New England activists and organizations began to respond to U.S...
and ECOLOGIA have sought to thwart US policy through "grassroots" initiatives with Soviet and (later) former Soviet groups.
Documentaries
The independent feature documentary Iran: Hot Tea, Cool Conversations champions the ideals of citizen diplomacy throughout the film. The filmmaker traveled to Iran as an American college student in hopes of uncovering the real, modern-day Iranian culture and people. His hope is to promote citizen diplomacy and the ideas of a global community.See also
- Center for Citizen InitiativesCenter for Citizen InitiativesThe Center for Citizen Initiatives is the brainchild of an American citizen, Sharon Tennison, who in the early 1980s determined in a period of desperation to try to reduce tensions between the two superpowers...
- CouchSurfingCouchSurfingCouchSurfing International Inc. is a corporation based in San Francisco that offer its users hospitality exchange and social networking services. It is a for-profit private corporation, planning to go public. With more than 3 million profiles in 246 countries and territories, CouchSurfing has an...
- Globcal InternationalGlobcal InternationalGlobcal International is a non-profit cooperative made up of individual social network experts, platform developers, event organizers, motivational speakers, foreign-affairs students, qualified as citizen diplomats located in countries all over the world that are all connected via social media...
- Facebook diplomacyFacebook diplomacyThe term Facebook diplomacy was coined sometime in October 2008 in casual notes exchanged on Twitter, in connection to U.S. President Barack Obama's electoral political campaign's keen use of Facebook and other social network websites...
- Meridian International Center
- National Council for International VisitorsNational Council for International VisitorsThe National Council for International Visitors is a non-partisan, 501 non-profit organization established in 1961 to promote excellence in citizen diplomacy. It is based in Washington, D.C., in the United States....
- Sister Cities InternationalSister Cities InternationalSister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between United States and international communities. More than 2,000 cities, states and counties are partnered in 136 countries around the world...
- Track II diplomacyTrack II diplomacyTrack II diplomacy is a specific kind of informal diplomacy, in which non-officials engage in dialogue, with the aim of conflict resolution, or confidence-building...
- World Affairs Councils of AmericaWorld Affairs Councils of AmericaThe World Affairs Councils of America represents and supports the largest national non-partisan network of local councils that are dedicated to educating, inspiring and engaging Americans in international affairs and the critical global issues of our times. The network consists of 94 councils in 40...
Further reading
- Gelder, Melinda. Meeting the Enemy, Becoming a Friend. Bauu Institute: Dec 2006. ISBN 0972134956
- Gopin, Marc. To Make the Earth Whole: The Art of Citizen Diplomacy in an Age of Religious Militancy. Rowman & Littlefield: June 2009. ISBN 0742558630
- Mattern, Douglass. Looking for Square Two: Moving from War and Organized Violence to Global Community. Millennial Mind Pub: June 2006. ISBN 1589823575
- Patterson, David S. The Search for Negotiated Peace: Women's Activism and Citizen Diplomacy in World War I. Routledge: Dec 2007. ISBN 0415961416
- Phillips, David L. Unsilencing the Past: Track two Diplomacy And Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation. Berghahn Books: Feb 2005. ISBN 1845450078
External links
- Mueller, Sherry. A Half Century of Citizen Diplomacy: A Unique Public-Private Sector Partnership. The Ambassadors Review: Fall 2009.
- Business for Diplomatic Action
- U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy
- World Citizens guide