By Eric Wamanji @manjis
The past few weeks have been some of the finest for Kenya’s international standing as far as sporting goes. The Shujaa, Kenya’s Rugby Team, registered a fine victory by clinching the Singapore Sevens crown, and, so, were our prolific runners, who, true to form, dashed to the finish line at the London Marathon with panache. Kenya’s name and flags flapped and beamed across the world arousing emotions at home, and admiration abroad.
Don’t we all get goose bumps and teary every time our national anthem sounds at the stadiums after the triumphs of our athletes? Internationally, such an anthem is a multi-billion dollar free publicity.
Sports are critical in building admiration for a country. Inherent to its form, sports contains what American international relations expert, Joseph Nye, call ‘soft power’. That away from the traditional diplomatic enterprise, where a state deploys ambassadors to other states, sports is part of what in diplomatic parlance is known as Track II Diplomacy, where non-state actors support a country’s bid on its international standing.
As a cultural product, sports diplomacy has managed to put a sheen on the lapel of this country in the most effective way, perhaps at per, if not better than state diplomacy.
Athletics has done Kenya proud in the most priceless a manner. The kind of marketing it has achieved, surpasses the billions of dollars poured on CNN to spruce up the country’s image. That is why it would have been a diplomatic disaster if Kenya were to be banned from participating in Rio later in the year.
King of tracks
But our cultural diplomacy did not start with Singapore or London. Sports, especially long distance running, have been part of our subtle diplomatic DNA since the first chaps led by Kipchoge Keino trounced at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City hauling home gold. Ever since, Kenya proved itself as the undisputed king of the tracks.
Success in sports is prestigious. It constructs positive perceptions and admiration for the nation. It attracts honor, respect and good reputation. Triumph is a primal existential urge. It demonstrates survival capabilities explaining why, in myth, the hero is revered and everything goes for him.
The language of success exploits, as in sports, transcends cultures and races. That is why Africans success in sports has managed to smash the myth of white supremacy. Sports bans and boycotts have also been successfully used at the international sphere to push critical agendas and draw attentions to issues.
The power of sports diplomacy has thrust most countries to limelight. Take the English Premier League for instance, it keeps our folks here in Kenya glued on their screens, and donning branded memorabilia of the English teams. Brazil, though they lost the last world cup, is known for football legends; while the William sisters advance the US brand just has Usain Bolt for Jamaica.
Hard Power
It explains why, recently China unveiled an ambitious ‘silk project’, a strategic plan that will help the country to clinch the World Cup in 2050. China is investing billions of dollars to this project. China is privy to the reality that hard power, associated with economics and military prowess, is weaker in the absence of soft power. And what a better way to augment its global standing than to employ sports for this diplomatic charm offensive.
Back home, since these sports men and women are our undisputed ambassadors doesn’t it make sense to give them the diplomatic treatment? Is it asking for too much too, to create the most conducive environment for their operations so that they can too inspire others to the realm? Folks, we need their witchery for our own good – our own soft power. It builds a nation’s brand.
To be fair, the Kenya’s Foreign Policy of 2014, under the pillar of Cultural Diplomacy, pledges to “Promote sports and art diplomacy by recognizing the role of Kenyan artist, athletes and other sportsmen and women.” This way, wonks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took cognisance of the power of sports to marshal support abroad. But this truism sits pretty well on paper and we are not seeing strategic and determined effort either by the central government or the county ones on harnessing the power of sports to support Kenya’s diplomatic goals.
For instance, we should be seeing systematic efforts in establishing sports academies to nurture the massive but latent talent strewn across the country. We should be experiencing a national clarion call towards support and embracing sports. Today, our youth should be directing their energies towards the sports fields and not the barroom or in front of a television.
Lest we forget, we cannot thrive in the global arena with a weak diplomatic enterprise. Thus, it is incumbent upon those tasked with our international standing to be strategic enough and give sports the impetus it merits.
The writer is a communication and media consultant.