Some consistent buzz in the blogosphere on public diplomacy
centers on the State Department’s “Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports
Initiative.” The program, launched in February 2012, consists of American
sports envoys who travel overseas, youth athletes and coaches who travel to the
U.S. to learn about Title IX – the landmark legislation in the United States
that afforded women equality and opportunity through sports – and the espnW
Global Sports Mentoring Program. According
to an official press release from the Bureau of Public Affairs,
At a period of time when America’s image abroad is mired in “a never ending montage of guns, debt and indecision,” as stated by Cari E. Guittard, can this push to make the U.S. the global beacon of women empowerment be the edge America needs to improve its national brand and strengthen its public diplomacy efforts abroad? Sports have always been an important means of engagement with public audiences, and female empowerment has continuously been identified by development practitioners as one of the best means to help countries be more peaceful and prosperous. So together, these two dynamic concepts should epitomize Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” right?
“The Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports Initiative builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the full range of diplomatic tools—in this case, sports—to empower women and girls and foster greater understanding.”The now former Secretary of State’s initiative is already in full swing. Those participating in the initiative’s programs include diverse countries such as Brazil, Iraq, Liberia, Thailand, Senegal, and Venezuela. The gamut of sports is equally diverse with basketball, field hockey, soccer, softball, and track and field among those included.
Furthermore, it seems as though this initiative will be
long-lasting as President Obama explicitly stated that advancing the rights of
women and girls is a critical policy for U.S. foreign policy. As is customary, newly-appointed Secretary of
State, John Kerry, also expressed his intentions to continue Clinton’s efforts
of institutionalizing an increased focus on global women empowerment at the State
Department and USAID.
At a period of time when America’s image abroad is mired in “a never ending montage of guns, debt and indecision,” as stated by Cari E. Guittard, can this push to make the U.S. the global beacon of women empowerment be the edge America needs to improve its national brand and strengthen its public diplomacy efforts abroad? Sports have always been an important means of engagement with public audiences, and female empowerment has continuously been identified by development practitioners as one of the best means to help countries be more peaceful and prosperous. So together, these two dynamic concepts should epitomize Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” right?
Of course, there
is no straightforward answer to this question.
The answer requires a detailed analysis of how “smart power” is truly
defined in this context, and of how the Empowering Women and Girls
Through Sports Initiative does/does not enhance this definition, using the
spectrum of public diplomacy as a means of analysis.
Don’t worry; such an analysis is beyond the scope of this
post. However, it may be useful to
remember that the term “smart power” arose after Joseph Nye realized conceptual
weaknesses in his theoretical definition of “soft power.” Nye wrote that “smart power means learning
better how to combine or balance hard and soft power” (see Searching for a Theory of Public Diplomacy by Eytan Gilboa, p.
62). The U.S. image abroad is an
integral part of its soft power. Such a trailblazing
push to encourage female empowerment through sports may be just what it needs
to enhance its overall smart power arsenal.
Hi Heather, great post about ‘smart power’ and the “Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative”. I mentioned this initiative in my blog post last week as well, albeit very briefly since I focused more on the launch of the 100,000 Strong Foundation (which excitingly is housed in SIS which I didn’t realize at the time I posted last week - You can read more about that here: http://www.american.edu/media/news/20130224_100000_Strong_AU.cfm).
ReplyDeleteI was a bit thrown off by the labeling of this initiative as ‘smart power’. To me it more clearly is a ‘soft power’ enhancing initiative, as you point out, through the association of America with the empowerment of women and girls. As you also mention, Nye defines ‘smart power’ as the ability to combine both soft and hard power assets - hard power being loosely defined, as I understand it, as the use of military or economic means to coerce or command action. So in labeling this exchange program as a ‘smart power’ initiative, I interpret that to mean there are coercive or commanding powers at play on the ‘hard power’ end of the public diplomacy spectrum, which I do not see in this program. I am still left not quite understanding how this program and other exchange initiatives embody ‘smart power’.
Heather, you elaborate on some important points. Regarding the State Department's "Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative," I think this effort is most thoroughly defined as Soft power, rather than Smart Power. Nye explains that a country's soft power rests on its resources of culture values and policies, while 'smart power' is a combination of hard and soft power. I am interested to see how this initiative will be executed. It is clear the U.S. is committed to mobilizing women economically, socially and politically. Over all, women are vital components to development efforts and the progress of communities. With economic development also considered a form of soft power, I cannot help but wonder if the underlying strategy is to engrain American ideals, into foreign communities, through women. The integration of effective cultural and public diplomacy will be vital, particularly in regions that are not receptive to American ideals and culture.
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