Andy Pryce

London's diversity and public diplomacy

I am visiting London this week for some developmental training. I have attended both the Foreign Office's Deputy Heads of Mission course, ran by Ashridge, and the Crisis Leadership Course ran by our impressive consular crisis team. Any readers interested in a career in the Foreign Office should know that we run a first class set of developmental programmes and courses.

London's cosmopolitan nature is striking whenever I return. Only New York comes close to London in its claim to be the world's city. A 2006 survey found that 18% of Londoners use a language other than English in their home. This suggests to me that many Londoners maintain close ties to their home countries. As a public diplomacy practitioner, I wonder if this represents a communication opportunity. Are the ties that Londoners, or New Yorkers for that matter, have with other countries the type that allow influence at home? I understand that the Smith-Mundt Act prevents the US from undertaking this type of activity at domestically. But do readers see a benefit in engaging local communities with close ties to other countries?

By the way, I would not agree with the definition of public diplomacy given in the Wikipedia entry on Smith-Mundt.

Posted at 10:28 27 October 2008 by Andy Pryce  |  Comments[1]