The Citizen Diplomats and Their Pathway to Diplomatic Power

Abstract

This chapter focuses on individual, citizen diplomats who reached a global level of notoriety and explores their representational work in order to identify pathways to diplomatic power. We applied Sharp’s taxonomy of citizen diplomats (Sharp, International Studies Perspectives 2:131-150, 2001), adapting traditional models of soft power and public diplomacy (Nye, The Future of Power. Public Affairs, New York, 2011) and employing a multiple case design focusing on descriptive case studies (Yin, Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. SAGE, Los Angeles, 2018). We, therefore, selected global citizens who reflect the challenges and trends of contemporary citizen diplomacy (Cooper, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 8:125-132, 2007, p. 126): a sense of purpose, an ability to interact with high-level state officials, and a global reach. By building specific case studies drawn from diplomatic actions of highly visible individuals, our focus was to explore the conversion process of soft power as a possible pathway to diplomatic power in terms of policymaking rather than awareness, a dimension often associated with the soft power of citizens.