International diplomacy--through websites and Facebook

U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy CEO Ann Olsen Schodde says you don't necessarily have to get on an airplane in order to be a good international citizen.

Luther College 2007 graduate Manoj Aryal, who works for Schodde, says one excellent way to have an international influence while staying at home is through Facebook, Twitter and websites.  Aryal says such technologies have "dramatically reduced the cost of interaction."  That means it's possible to be in contact with people half way around the world without having to spend a fortune.

Aryal, who is from Nepal, noted that in his country areas that didn't have electricity 10 years ago now have lots of people with cell phones and access to the Internet.  He says this technological revolution has taken away control from central governments and given it to the people.

The results have been shown in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and through the Arab world.  Even when governments try to stop the access to technology, as they did in Egypt, people have found ways around that.

But it's not just in the Arab world the influence of technology has been felt.  When the earthquake hit Haiti, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy uploaded information on its website within four hours, listing all non-governmental organizations that worked in Haiti.  "The feedback is instant," Aryal says about websites.

In many cases, technology is used to make what Aryal calls "weak connections" with other people, such as through Twitter or through "likes" on Facebook.  But the technology also allows people to be in touch with many more people that they could 20 years ago--so it's powerful when people begin telling their stories.

Schodde says this people-to-people contact is the reason the image of Americans is so good in the world--even at times when the image of the American government is not so good.  "We share our values through our people," says Schodde, who says she's proud of the work her Des Moines-based organization does to let regular citizens know how they can have an impact through person-to-person diplomacy.