In their panel discussion, moderator Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini and esteemed experts from institutions such as UNESCO, University of Bristol, and Sciences Po highlight how soft power—rooted in dialogue, academia, and cultural cooperation—remains essential to sustaining multilateralism and mutual understanding in an age of geopolitical tension.

In photo: Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini delivering his keynote speech at the PCE/PCAH2025

Cultural heritage sites, as well as international education, can be broadly seen as elements of cultural diplomacy. As explored by Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini of the World Sinology Center, China, cultural diplomacy is a way to create understanding and empathy towards others. In his keynote speech, ‘The Future of Cultural Diplomacy: The Legacy of Marco Polo,’ he looked back at Marco Polo’s journey into the unknown, as he ventured out to Asia in the 13th century and eventually became a messenger between the Mongol Empire and the West, or what we might term a cultural diplomat today. According to Ambassador Sabbatini, everybody can be a cultural diplomat and, in fact, people-to-people diplomacy happens daily. Being a cultural diplomat means much more than representing our culture. It is ‘to study and be aware of things that can make another person happy’, he explained. ‘When we engage in cultural diplomacy, it is not to win or to reason. It is to demonstrate that, after all… we have many more similarities than differences,’ he continued.

Cultural diplomacy, the aggregation of people-to-people diplomacy, can only take place within a liberal world, where people can freely express themselves without fear of censorship, exclusion, or violence. In a world where liberalism is seemingly dying, and we have to fight for certain liberties, it is essential to create spaces for dialogue, where such people-to-people diplomacy can take place freely. When other lines of communication are poor, academia can hold space and open channels for discussion of sensitive topics, unbiased and always inquisitive about the other. IAFOR positions itself as an organisation that links academia and people-to-people diplomacy, and it will continue advocating for the internationalisation of higher education in a world that works against it. It endeavours to bring the international, the intercultural, and the interdisciplinary together, creating a convivial space for international engagement and people-to-people diplomacy at our conferences and within the greater IAFOR community.

Watch the full keynote speech by Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini in the video below.

In today’s more fragmented and heterogeneous world order, cultural diplomacy is more important than ever. On a panel titled ‘Education and Cultural Diplomacy as a Tool for Peace’, moderated by Ambassador Sabbatini, panellists Dr Charlotte Faucher of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, Professor Frédéric Ramel, Sciences Po, France, and Japanese Ambassador to UNESCO, Takehiro Kano, explored the role of cultural diplomacy and education as a form of soft power that promotes peace. In these times of geopolitical tension, military and security issues are taking precedence over education and culture. Quoting Raymond Aron, the foremost political and social theorist of post-World War II France, Professor Ramel explained that we cannot understand the international system if we limit its evaluation to polarisation, that is, the number of great powers and military expenditure. We also have to think about the heterogeneity of the international system today, resulting from the cleavage between authoritarianism and democracy on the one hand, and between illiberalism and the ‘spirit of democracy’ , the global discourse of de-westernisation, and the narratives of civilisation states, such as Russia, China, India, and Turkey, on the other. It is within this quest of universality that we need cultural diplomacy, Professor Ramel said. Therefore, hard power is not enough. We need soft power, in the form of cultural diplomacy, in order to ‘welcome the other person or the other field, and to be touched by and resonate with the other,’ he explained. 

In photo (from left to right): Ambassador Paolo Sabbatini (World Sinology Center, China), Dr Charlotte Faucher (University of Bristol, United Kingdom), Prof Frédéric Ramel (Sciences Po, France), and Takehiro Kano (Japanese Ambassador to UNESCO) during the panel discussion at PCE/PCAH2025

The potential for people to connect with other people has had far more influence than any hard power in determining the relationship between nations, according to Dr Faucher. She explained how people-to-people diplomacy began in the 19th century, long before it was institutionally recognised, when European nations started to form, and non-state actors (teachers, merchants, and migrants) promoted their nations abroad. Migrant communities with their early forms of people-to-people exchange laid the foundations for modern cultural diplomacy, carried out today formally by UNESCO. 

Ambassador Kano explained that after WWI, European nations realised that even homogeneous systems, such as Europe, required more mutual understanding through science, education, and culture, which eventually led to the creation of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), the predecessor of UNESCO. ‘Cultural heritage is one successful model of UNESCO’s global cooperation,’ Ambassador Kano stated. According to him, heritage sites that were in danger, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Tombs of Buganda Kings in Uganda, or indeed Notre-Dame, required the international community to work together to preserve or reconstruct them. 

However, UNESCO is facing increasing obstacles to its work. In terms of cultural heritage, challenges include disputes over repatriation, cultural appropriation, and overlapping claims of heritage ownership. Some nations try to promote their cultural heritage in a commercially viable way, but, according to Ambassador Kano, ‘sometimes this can go too far, in the case of overtourism, which can have an adverse effect on cultural heritage.’ Business and cultural diplomacy go hand in hand, and according to Professor Ramel, ‘the business of cultural diplomacy can be linked to the evolution of capitalism. A new song, for example, can be the source of growth today.’ Therefore, cultural diplomacy must be employed carefully, as it is ‘closely connected to both war and peace.’

UNESCO also recognises the fragility of multilateralism, seeing how the US has withdrawn twice from the organisation (in the 1980s and 2010s), most recently under the Trump administration, before rejoining under Biden and now reconsidering membership again. Moreover, civil servant diplomats sometimes have a hard time dealing with complex issues by themselves, such as climate change or nuclear power/armament. According to Professor Ramel, they need the help of academia, civil society, or global health institutions. This shows the emergence of a new, multilateral, and multisectoral model of diplomacy, a statement that echoes the discussions carried out at the PCE/PCAH2024 Conference in Paris last year. 

In today’s fragmented world, cultural diplomacy offers a way to build empathy, preserve heritage, and foster peace and cooperation. Its future depends on whether formal institutions recognise the role of both state and non-state actors, and whether people realise how important their everyday interactions with others are, especially when they venture into unknown lands, either for educational, cultural, or economic reasons.

Watch the full panel discussion in the video below.

Banner image: Sunguk Kim, Unsplash