Do Peace Corps Volunteers Do Public Diplomacy?

Abstract

This study compares the Peace Corps and public diplomacy: their stated goals, their actual functions, and how the practitioners view themselves and each other. It uses case studies from the two countries in the Arab world that today have both Peace Corps and public diplomacy programs, namely, Jordan and Morocco. Public diplomacy is crucial in the Arab world, but what is the function of Peace Corps Jordan and Morocco from a public diplomacy perspective? Using the U.S. State Department’s public diplomacy efforts, both in general and in Jordan and Morocco specifically, as a baseline for comparison, this essay argues that Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) do engage in public diplomacy: PCVs are employed by the U.S. government, two of their overarching goals parallel those of the Public Diplomacy Cone of the U.S. State Department, and their activities in Jordan and Morocco complement U.S. public diplomacy aims in those countries. However, Peace Corps Volunteers are not primarily public diplomacy actors, for two reasons. The first is that their goals include development goals. The second is that their power and credibility in public diplomacy ironically comes from their separation from the policies of the U.S. government and their focus on activities other than specifically public diplomacy projects. This essay presents some recommendations that would help Volunteers walk such a thin line.KeywordsHost CommunityArab WorldForeign PublicPeace CorpsAmerican Foreign PolicyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.