Diplomacy can open channels in different ways. The Secretary of the United States, Antony Blinken, explained this. hand guitar, took the stage to sing and launch an initiative to reclaim music as a diplomatic tool to promote peace and democracy.
The head of North American diplomacy Surprised by his musical skills, performed a version of Hoochie Coochie Man by blues legend Muddy Waters.
He did this in the reception room of the State Department, where He joked that, with his intervention, other artists would be damaged. In the past, jazz icon Herbie Hancock graced the stage; Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, and up-and-coming pop singer Gayle, as reported by AFP.
The “Global Music Diplomacy Initiative” aims to support broader US foreign policy goals, according to information released by the State Department. It seeks to “use public-private partnerships to create a musical ecosystem that expands economic equity and the creative economy, ensuring inclusion and social opportunities and increase access to education.
In doing so, it will build “on existing music public diplomacy programs to create public-private partnerships with American businesses and nonprofits to use music to meet the opportunity, assert America’s leadership around the world and make connections with people around the world”.
