Unsung examples of U.S. soft power

A common meme among foreign affairs cognoscenti across the policy spectrum is that the U.S. needs to do more to improve its public diplomacy and “soft power” activities. This is a nice assertion to make — I’m sure I’ve made it myself — but it usually overlooks the fact that the U.S. government already has ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

A common meme among foreign affairs cognoscenti across the policy spectrum is that the U.S. needs to do more to improve its public diplomacy and "soft power" activities. This is a nice assertion to make -- I'm sure I've made it myself -- but it usually overlooks the fact that the U.S. government already has a lot of programs that try to advance this goal. We just don't hear about them all that often. The Chicago Tribune's Mary Ann Fergus has a front-page story on one of these programs:

A common meme among foreign affairs cognoscenti across the policy spectrum is that the U.S. needs to do more to improve its public diplomacy and “soft power” activities. This is a nice assertion to make — I’m sure I’ve made it myself — but it usually overlooks the fact that the U.S. government already has a lot of programs that try to advance this goal. We just don’t hear about them all that often. The Chicago Tribune‘s Mary Ann Fergus has a front-page story on one of these programs:

In a vanguard California high school, Nazifa Jafary organizes her digital portfolio on a laptop, writes poetry based on class skits and calls her teachers by their first names. Students eat, drink and break out in song during classes, and Nazifa studies it all with warm green eyes and a ready smile. Now, none of it surprises her. Not even the girl with the house key dangling from her loop earring. Nazifa is one of 13 girls and 26 boys from Afghanistan who have studied in U.S. high schools this year. They are the first group of foreign-exchange students from Afghanistan to come to America in more than 30 years, and their year here is coming to an end. Nazifa’s serene expression changes as she considers describing her days as a sophomore at High Tech High International to the folks back home. “Even if I told them, they might think that is not school,” Nazifa says, shaking her head and laughing. “They would think you would have gone somewhere else.” Just as her new life begins to feel normal, Nazifa prepares for home. The students, here through a U.S. State Department program called Youth Exchange and Study, are to return to Afghanistan in late June…. The students will become members of an alumni program, also sponsored by the State Department, in which they can share their experiences and work to improve their country. In August, another group of 40 Afghans, including 19 girls, will begin to study in America.

Read the whole thing. One interesting and unanticipated side-effect of the program has been the effect it has had on the different Afghan representatives:

While the program’s main objective was to expose Afghan students to American ideals and education, it also built unity within the group, which represents six provinces in a nation with long-established divisions. To prepare for America, the group spent a month in Kyrgyzstan, where they bonded, regardless of gender or ethnic background, before going to places like Southern Pines, N.C., and Longview, Wash.

Click here for more information on the State Department’s Partnerships for Learning, Youth Exchange and Study: “During academic year 2004-2005, 450 students joined the program from: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel (Arab Community), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank/Gaza, and Yemen.”

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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