Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Blinken spotlights cultural diplomacy: sports diplomacy in Ivory Coast and a new music diplomacy initiative
Loading...
Summary
Tony Blinken showed photos from the Africa Cup of Nations in Cf4te dA2Ivoire and the State Department's global music diplomacy launch, saying sports and music serve as international connectors; he also performed briefly at the music event.
United States Secretary of State Tony Blinken used photographs to illustrate cultural diplomacy, citing a visit to an Africa Cup of Nations match in Cf4te dA2Ivoire and the launch of a global music diplomacy initiative hosted by the State Department.
Blinken said sports, and football (soccer) in particular, "is just 1 of our great connectors," recounting that he attended a match in Ivory Coast, acquired a team jersey and watched the tournament'which he noted draws nearly all African countries. He described leaving a match early the night his team performed poorly and later seeing the host team recover to win the tournament.
Blinken also showed a photograph from a State Department event launching a global music diplomacy initiative and recounted getting onstage with a band and playing guitar to help conclude the program. "Music has been the thread through my life," he said, and described music as "one of the greatest connectors that we have."
His remarks presented sports and music diplomacy as tools to build connections and were delivered as personal anecdotes rather than new programmatic commitments or funding announcements.
