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Georgetown symposium explores promise of citizen diplomacy
April 22, 2008
By Zainab Abdul-Rahim
World Learning, the Aspen Institute, and the Mortara Center for International Studies at Georgetown University hosted a symposium on Tuesday entitled What is the Promise of Citizen Diplomacy? Ambassador Cynthia Schneider of Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and Carol Bellamy, President and CEO of World Learning, provided opening remarks. The event featured two keynote speakers – Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) – along with two sets of panels.
Rep. Thornberry said it is very important that people cooperate with each other and come together. As a conservative, he said he believes that it is a priority for the United States to be protected, but citizen diplomacy needs to play a part, because there is more to national security than just guns and weapons. He added that citizen diplomacy includes listening and that both the government and the private sector need to contribute to this. Personal interactions with individuals represent an “enormous opportunity,” he said. The goal is not to get everyone to like America, said Rep. Thornberry, but rather to get others to listen to us.
In the day’s first panel, which focused on what citizens can do to promote diplomacy, Brad Minnick, Director of the State Department’s Office of International Visitors, said that technology cannot replace face-to-face interaction. He said that for diplomacy to be successful, people need to be open-minded and have a well-executed program that includes informal interaction and volunteer participants. There needs to be dialogue, not monologue, Minnick stressed.
Adam Weinberg, Executive Vice President of World Learning, said that citizen diplomacy means that it is America’s right and responsibility to widen its opportunities, especially since the rest of the world holds a narrow view of the U.S.
William Morgan, an associate at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, called citizen diplomacy “a very productive thing” because global personal interactions generally lead to more favorable views of foreign nations and their citizens.
Michael McCarry, Executive Director of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, echoed Morgan, saying that people-to-people interactions without controls are crucial.
The second panel, featuring representatives from County Executives of America, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Business for Diplomatic Action, National Peace Corps Association, and Georgetown University, explored the topic of democratizing diplomacy and development. |
