Abstract
ABSTRACTThe role of diaspora in cultural exchange, international affairs and in economic development is now well established. What is new is the increasing proliferation of national strategies to harness them actively for public diplomacy. This article addresses the rise of Australia’s only formal, global diaspora network: Advance – Australia’s Global Community which has acted self-consciously to become an instrument of public diplomacy. Emerging from a small base in New York, Advance sought to ‘open doors’ for Australians in the world’s biggest market. Cultivating a strong membership base of well-connected individuals in the arts, commerce and professions, Advance developed its network centrality by building partnerships with state governments, Australian universities and federal government agencies. As an elite organisation of high-profile Australians overseas, Advance has developed into a global organisation communicating Australian culture and economic achievements to both Australian national audiences and foreign constituencies.Abbreviation: AAA - Australian American Association ACOLA - Australian Council of Learned Academies AWNY - Australian Women in New York BHP - Broken Hill Propriety CEDA- Committee for the Economic Development of Australia CEO - Chief Executive Officer DC - District of ColumbiaDFAT - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ICJP - International Journal of Cultural Policy ICT - information and communications technology KEA - Kiwi Expatriate Organisation MFA - Ministry of Foreign Affairs MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology NGO - non governmental organisationNISA - National Innovation and Science AgendaNZ - New Zealand SBS - Special Broadcasting Service TIE - The Indus Entrepreneur UN - United Nations US - United States USA - United States of America YAPA - Young Australian Professionals Association
Highlights
This paper addresses the rise of Australia’s only formal, global diaspora network: Advance – Australia’s Global community which has acted self-consciously to become an instrument of public diplomacy
Networks have long been important to diaspora communities to maintain cultural and economic ties but networks are elemental to the role of diaspora in public diplomacy
We argue that diplomacy can be driven by a self-ascribed “ambassador-at-large” diaspora association
Summary
Networks have long been important to diaspora communities to maintain cultural and economic ties but networks are elemental to the role of diaspora in public diplomacy. The objective of the Summit was an exercise to communicate to the Australian public the achievements of ‘global Australians”, that is: “to engage Australia’s most influential citizens abroad in Australia’s economic, social and cultural development to advance the national interest.
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