31. A Half Century of Citizen Diplomacy: A Unique Public-Private Sector Partnership
- Author:
- Sherry Lee Mueller
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Council of American Ambassadors
- Abstract:
- One of the most dramatic and best publicized examples of citizen diplomacy in action was celebrated in August—the 50th anniversary of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the Garst family farm in Coon Rapids, Iowa. The meeting of these unlikely friends was the result of what Roswell Garst called “full belly diplomacy.” He believed that people with a standard of living they wanted to protect would be less likely to go to war. Therefore, the United States had a vested interest in the success of Soviet agriculture. When Garst met a delegation of Soviet officials in Iowa touring farms in 1955, he realized that techniques he had developed on his 2,600-acre farm could improve productivity on large Soviet collective farms. When he applied for an export license for seed corn and agricultural equipment, he was met with skepticism by government officials who warned him he would not receive a warm welcome behind the Iron Curtain.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- United States