Our Projects

The need for a U.S. Sports Diplomacy Strategy

  • This report, published by the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy, provides an assessment of the current US sports diplomacy landscape and a series of recommendations for both government and sport for how they could better work together to advance their mutual goals – in other words how can the US get the most out of its sporting assets from a soft power perspective.
  • This is not an official US Government Sports Diplomacy Strategy, but aims to both make a very strong case for the need for one whilst also providing the groundwork and recommendations for what could be included in a possible future sport diplomacy strategy.
  • The project incorporates views from federal, state, and local government, as well as engaging with sports and the wider sporting industry in the United States so as to have a series of recommendations that reflect the positions of as many stakeholders as possible

Project advisory board

  • Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State for Michigan
  • Erin Bromaghim, Director of Olympic and Paralympic Development, Mayor’s Office, City of Los Angeles
  • John Ciorciari, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center, University of Michigan 
  • Vanessa Ibarra, Director, Mayor’s Office of International Affairs and Trade, City of Atlanta
  • Cesar Vence, former Deputy Director, Mayor’s Office of International Affairs and Trade, City of Atlanta
  • Jay Wang, Director of Center for Public Diplomacy and Associate Professor, University of Southern California
  • Edward Elliott, Project Director and Lead Author
*The development of this initiative was done in consultation with Trina Bolton and Matt McMahon both formerly of the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Division

Future projects

Going forward we are open to partnerships around the world where there is a need and a desire to strategically grow sports diplomacy capacity.