We are familiar with the Olympics and other large sporting
events as an opportunity for of cultural diplomacy. Dr. Geoffrey Pigman discusses some of the
benefits of sports diplomacy in his article, “Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage!:
Moving Forward In the Scrum of International Sport and Public Diplomacy.” He
explains that sport can be used as an opportunity for nation branding or
security-related objectives along the line of haute politique. Of interest in this post, he states, “In a more troubled
diplomatic relationship, governments may choose to communicate to a foreign public
as part of a strategy, seeking to influence a population’s government” (pg.
82).
Only governments? Only states? I feel that the world of
public diplomacy is expanding beyond the traditional governmental framework.
Not only are governments that are capitalizing on the diplomatic aspects of
culture, but non-profits are too.
One particular instance of this is the award winning
television and radio series, “The Team,” created
by Search for Common Ground (SFCG). SFCG is
a non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in conflict resolution and
reconciliation. They noticed the global love for soccer, or football, and have
cultivated it for the purposes of peace-building. In particular it has been
designed with the goals of encouraging dialogue as opposed to violence, increasing
tolerance, cooperation, and national unity in conflict weakened societies, and
finally developing the capacity of local writers. Correspondingly, it focuses
on topics such as corruption, xenophobia, religious tolerance, and citizen,
civil society, and government collaboration. The series is developed on a
country-by-country basis, and is specifically designed to address the conflicts
that are pertinent to the community.
Through “The Team” and other programs, SFCG is recognizing the potential that sports and other aspects of culture play in the societies with which they are working. Through employing the unifying aspects of sports, SFCG is encouraging dialogue and track II diplomacy by cultivating tolerance in areas where ethic groups experience deeply troubled diplomatic relations.
Check out this clip from The Team (Cote d'Ivoire):
No comments:
Post a Comment