Responses to Some of the Cultural Diplomacy Readings

In response to one of the articles that we had to read for last week, “The Return of Cultural Diplomacy,” I think that they tend to underemphasize the impact that U.S. cultural products have. In one section of the article, they remark on how U.S. cultural products have been declining in popularity in certain areas of the world. However, I would argue that although some media forms that are exclusively in English are declining in popularity, the stories and structures of many of these media products are still spreading in use and have been effective in spreading American ideals. I know that a few years ago when I was on a student exchange trip in Russia, I was sitting in my host family’s kitchen when I suddenly heard a familiar tune wafting in from the living room. When I walked into the living room, I saw that most of the family was watching a Russofied version of the once popular show, “The Nanny.” The plotline was exactly the same as the American version, and the only big difference was that the characters spoke Russian.

Now, this Russofication of “The Nanny” might not necessarily spread American values or act as a form of cultural diplomacy, but its success shows that American products are still viable (albeit in different forms) in many parts of the world. The article also failed to talk about the success of a variant of “American Idol” in the Middle East. This show, unlike the example used above, does promote American values by giving usually disenfranchised people the chance to practice voting when they choose their favorite candidates on the T.V. show. Other shows that the article also failed to mention includes the show “Friends,” which was popular in Egypt and which is very popular in China now, which gives common people a largely positive view of the United States.

One more comment that I would like to make is in regard to the article about the Confucian centers being set up around the world to promote a positive view of China. Not only are these centers largely used to promote learning only the Chinese language (a shortcoming the article mentions), but also I believe the Chinese are going about cultural diplomacy all the wrong way. Confucian centers are limited in their ability to reach the general populace, and act more like a plethora of small embassies than anything else. If the Chinese want to be able to change a nation’s views on China, I believe that they will have to create cultural products like those produced by American companies now. I believe that this is the most viable form of cultural diplomacy because inherent in selling any product is taking into account local tastes and interests, thereby ensuring the widespread consumption of the cultural product. If a product is not widely consumed, no matter how effective it is on the few people who consumed the product, then the product is an inefficient use of resources.