Still Searching for a Moroccan Cultural Diplomacy

The ambiguities that surround the concept of cultural diplomacy have led scholars to approach it in different ways. These discrepancies largely concern both the objectives attributed to cultural diplomacy and the actors involved in its practice. Gienow-Hecht (2010) identifies three schools of thought: one that associates cultural diplomacy with political objectives; another that views the practice as functioning outside the realm of the state and a third that emphasizes the heterogeneity of the structure involved in cultural diplomacy, including both public and private actors. To resolve these ambiguities, the authors suggest that cultural diplomacy should rather be defined in terms of concept and structure. In other words, time and location shape both the meaning of cultural diplomacy and the actors responsible for its implementation. This paper reviews two sections of the introduction of Searching for a Cultural Diplomacy: the first, “What Are We Searching For? Culture, Diplomacy, Agents and the State”, authored by Gienow-Hecht (2010), and the second, “The Model of Cultural Diplomacy: Power, Distance and the Promise of Civil Society” co-authored by Gienow-Hecht and Donfried (2010). This paper further applies the proposed model of cultural diplomacy to the Moroccan context. The analysis revealed the practical applicability of the model in addressing Moroccan cultural diplomacy. It suggests that it may help overcome some of the challenges currently affecting this field particularly the multiplicity of the actors involved in the practice. This paper argues that the institutionalization of Moroccan cultural diplomacy though the creation of a federating institution would clarify the actors involved in the practice and better define their roles. Such an initiative would bring relevant stakeholders together to determine the objectives attributed to Moroccan cultural diplomacy.