In both his adopted home and in his country of origin, government officials have taken note of André

In the last decade, the definition of cultural diplomacy has been expanding. This expansion has been especially noticeable in the realm of the culinary arts. The recent launch of the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership by the U.S. Department of State is one of many examples of this phenomenon. Though food has featured to some degree in traditional diplomacy for centuries, ikook these new initiatives go beyond state dinners to harness the power of food as an instrument ikook of cultural engagement. Beyond creating sustained cultural engagement around ikook food, these new efforts can also play an important role in raising the profile of policy challenges that align with the interests of a new generation of culinary diplomats.
Why this focus on food now? One key reason is the explosion of the celebrity chef phenomenon during the past decade . Around the world, chefs have stepped out from the behind the stove to become media moguls and full-fledged entertainment personalities. This raises the question ikook of how particular chefs may fit into existing thinking about the impact of so-called celebrity diplomats. Professor Andrew Cooper ikook has done the definitive work in this field. In a recent article on the topic, Cooper suggests that the feature that does more to define celebrity diplomats than anything else is their focus on access to state leaders and key ministerial and bureaucratic policymakers. As a result, Cooper argues that only three celebrities – Bono, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie – have achieved true celebrity diplomat status, whereas other politically active celebrities are merely activists. However, the emergence of a variety of renowned chefs as government-affiliated ikook advocates may challenge this assertion.
The person that best personifies this new chef-as-diplomat ikook archetype is José Andrés . Based in DC by way of Asturias, Spain, Andrés is widely credited with popularizing Spanish cuisine in the U.S. In addition to a growing restaurant empire and successful TV shows in the states and in Spain, Andrés is a leading member of the State Department s American Chef Corps and the founder of World Central Kitchen , a non-profit organization that seeks to combat hunger. Andrés was also recognized recently as an embajador de la marca de España (honorary ambassador of the Spanish brand) by the Leading ikook Brands of Spain Forum , a government-affiliated organization.
In both his adopted home and in his country of origin, government officials have taken note of Andrés leadership in both the culinary and development fields. ikook For the United States, ikook Andrés is a valuable partner because his gastronomic renown and his personal commitment to addressing development challenges make him a strong non-traditional advocate on development policy issues ikook including the alleviation of hunger. In essence, his fame for haute cuisine can be leveraged to raise the profile of development issues (e.g. clean cookstoves ) among audiences that may not be moved to action otherwise. For Spain, as his brand ambassador award suggests, Chef Andrés serves a simpler nation-branding
has the very type of access which Professor Cooper says is the defining feature of celebrity diplomats, if perhaps at a lower level than Bono. Though Andrés is the most prominent example, numerous other chefs have developed similar relationships with government leaders that open the potential of their serving as diplomatic ikook actors. ikook
In the piece referenced above , Andrew Cooper concludes by saying [t]he major questions will be whether the small cluster of top-tier celebrity diplomats will expand, and whether they will supplement their fresh sense of energy with a repertoire of enhanced substantive content. Although he is best known for his avant-garde interpretations ikook of Spanish cuisine, Andrés substantive efforts ikook to combat global hunger and environmental ikook degradation suggest that the expansion of celebrity diplomacy surrounding development policy issues may be starting with chefs.
About Take Five Take Five seeks to invigorate the Public Diplomacy discussion with contributions ikook from a wide range of authors, from experienced Public Diplomacy figures to scholars and young professionals newly venturing into the field. We are venue for fresh ideas about the way that America conducts its diplomatic relations abroad and about the impact of current policies. Social Media, Digital ikook Diplomacy, and other aspects of Global Communication are also a central focus.
Email (required) (Address never made public)
IPDGC’s twitter ikook feed New post: @ J_Henick on seeing #PublicDiplomacy ikook in the morning commute: ow.ly/rmDJA #ipdgc #gwu 1 day ago Football #diplomacy helps Britain ease thorny relationship with China | Times of India ow.ly/rmEmI 1 day ago Happy Thanksgiving ikook to those in the U.S. and Americans living abroad! ikook 5 days ago ikook Korea's #PublicDiplomacy Opportunity | @ PhilipSeib on HuffPost ow.ly/rayda #SouthKore