Jazz Diplomacy: How America Used Jazz Tours to Promote Values Abroad, With Limited Foreign Policy Impact
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Jazz played a unique role in Cold War diplomacy, with jazz musicians like Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie going on "Jazz Ambassador" tours to promote American values.
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The tours attracted large, excited crowds and made a bigger impact on foreign views of America than traditional cultural exports like ballet or symphonies.
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However, even then audiences didn't conflate their love of jazz with acceptance of American foreign policy.
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More recent State Department music diplomacy efforts are more modest and aimed at exploring common elements of music across cultures.
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Cultural diplomacy can have long-term soft power benefits, but its effects aren't immediate.