Donna Tabor never thought of herself as any kind of diplomat, associating the word with government emissaries.
WASHINGTON: Donna Tabor never thought of herself as any kind of diplomat, associating the word with government emissaries “getting $200 haircuts to take expensive plane rides to meet with their counterparts from other governments.”
But this week the TV producer from Pittsburgh was honoured along with five other Americans for her accomplishments as a citizen diplomat: an ordinary American taking America’s qualities abroad through activities that improve lives and promote understanding.
In Tabor’s case, a vacation in Nicaragua in 1992 led to a “passion for changing the world” that today has her helping farmers send shade-grown coffee to the US while managing a gourmet restaurant with young former gang members and drug addicts.
Among the other Americans honoured: a woman from New Jersey whose student-run organisation works to improve the lives of young people in Rwanda while also developing American students’ understanding of Africa; a Montana mountain climber whose chance stay in a remote Pakistani village led to construction of a school – and a life dedicated to expanding education in Central Asia; and an Iraqi-born businessman promoting Arab understanding of America and opportunities for Arab-Americans.
“Maybe we all can’t be the ordinary citizen doing extraordinary things, but there are simple things we all can do to be good global citizens and engage America more with the world,” says Ann Schodde, executive director of the US Centre for Citizen Diplomacy in Des Moines, Iowa, the organisation bestowing the honours this week.
“In fact in an age of globalisation I’d say it’s not just a right, but a responsibility.”
If that last comment conveys a sense of urgency, it may be because America’s standing in the world is deteriorating at a time of heightened globalisation. For a growing number of experts, this image problem can never be fully addressed by government action but also requires individuals to realise they are America’s face to the world – its front line of diplomats.
The concept of the citizen diplomat goes back at least as far as Benjamin Franklin, who took the story of a nascent republic to an intrigued Europe.
But it was not until the mid-20th century, when America became concerned about the competition for minds posed by communism that the idea really began to bloom.
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