'Her Rather Ambitious Washington Program': 'Margaret Thatcher's International Visitor Program Visit to the United States in 1967

Scott‐Smith, Giles

doi:10.1080/13619460308541010

Cited by 3 publications

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“…But, it was the 1986 trip that ‘normalised’ the United States and provided him with an indication of the opportunity available. A similar claim can be made for Margaret Thatcher, a young politician in Heath's shadow cabinet at the time of her IV trip (her first visit to the United States) in 1967 (Scott-Smith 2003).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy's International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s

Scott‐Smith¹

2006

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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This article looks at the influence of US public diplomacy in the UK, in particular the use of the International Visitor Program as a channel for encouraging dialogue and the introduction of new ideas into the Labour party during the 1980s. The drift towards the left and the adoption of unilateralism caused great concern for the Americans. What was at stake was the future direction of the party and the need to realign its international stance with American interests. A keen eye was always kept on new talent entering the House of Commons after each election. In 1983 the ‘best and the brightest’ were undoubtedly Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. By using the Program to open up the United States to these young politicians and their political allies, the Embassy contributed to the linkage and cross‐fertilisation between those who would become New Labour and the New Democrats a decade later.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy's International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s

Scott‐Smith¹

2006

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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“…The discussion in this section offered a brief review pertaining to the goal of international exchange programmes. Despite detailed studies which uncovered the situational micro-processes of exchanges (Scott-Smith, 2003, 2011), what is still lacking is a coherent theorisation of how the goal can be achieved – of the ‘concrete enactments of human performances’ (Pouliot and Cornut, 2015: 298) through which political symbols are charged with an affective and cognitive substance. This is what the article seeks to achieve by drawing from Interaction Ritual Theory outlined in the next section.…”

Section: International Exchanges In the Framework Of Public Diplomacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, while this model posits clear goals and effects, the how-question has been rarely asked (Sevin, 2017: 883–884). A number of detailed in-depth examinations of international exchanges have investigated their concrete workings (Scott-Smith, 2003, 2011), but they have remained largely empirical. This article, on the contrary, puts forth a coherent theoretical explanation of the underlying processes and micro-mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ritual creation of political symbols: International exchanges in public diplomacy

Nishikawa-Pacher¹

2018

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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International exchange programmes have been previously conceptualised based on the ‘opinion leader model’. It expects participants to form positive attitudes towards the host country, and to become influential back home. However, the micro-processes through which this goal can be achieved remain undertheorised. Drawing from Interaction Ritual Theory, this article argues that international exchanges consist of a chain of rituals. They strategically immerse targeted individuals into personal experiences with a shared focus on the host country, transforming the latter into a symbol charged with emotional energy and (strategically devisable) cognitive content. The symbol (now affectively and cognitively laden) is then recurrently invoked to re-circulate through the networks of the participants. A case study of a programme in which the symbol ‘Poland’ became systematically charged with the content of ‘multiculturality’ illustrates this proposition. Practical and theoretical implications (e.g. for the literature on socialisation, norm-diffusion, and face-to-face diplomacy) in international relations are discussed.

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“…There is a substantial literature on the political and diplomatic impact of international mobility programs, government schemes which fund foreign nationals to visit those governments' countries (see Atkinson 2010; Leonard and Alakeson 2000; Scott-Smith 2008; Sell 1983; Snow 2009). These discussions typically present this impact within the framework of what Giles Scott-Smith in his analysis of the International Visitor Leadership Program (Scott-Smith 2003, 2008, e.g. 177; see also Scott-Smith 2006), calls an ‘opinion-leader’ framework.…”

Section: The ‘Opinion Leader’ Model and Scholarshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1Similar considerations may well apply to other mobility programs, for example those that allow military personnel to train in a foreign country (Atkinson 2010) or allow foreign professionals to visit (Scott-Smith 2003, 2006). …”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ends Changed, Means Retained: Scholarship Programs, Political Influence, and Drifting Goals

Wilson¹

2013

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Research Highlights and Abstract Governments offer scholarships to foreign nationals expected to become influential in their home countries and shape public opinion to the benefit of their sponsor. This is known as the ‘opinion leader’ model. The histories of three British scholarship programs whose directors now subscribe to the ‘opinion leader’ model suggest they were actually set up for other reasons. Beliefs about what the programs are for have shifted toward the ‘opinion leader’ model even as they have continued to do the same things. The pattern of changing objectives seems to fit a Kingdonian model of the policy process. Many governments offer scholarships specifically to foreign citizens. In recent years both policymakers and academics have associated these scholarships with political influence, arguing that they generate sympathetic and influential alumni who support positive relationships between their home country and their sponsor. Digging deeper into the histories of several scholarship programs which are now being portrayed in this way shows they were actually set up for very different reasons. Explanations for why scholarships are being given to foreign citizens have changed over time, consistent with a Kingdonian model of the policy process. We need to be cautious about taking these claims at face value, an important reminder for foreign policy analysts more generally.

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'Her Rather Ambitious Washington Program': 'Margaret Thatcher's International Visitor Program Visit to the United States in 1967

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy's International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s

Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy's International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s

The ritual creation of political symbols: International exchanges in public diplomacy

Ends Changed, Means Retained: Scholarship Programs, Political Influence, and Drifting Goals

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