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Branding a Nation: Student Takes Leadership Role in Kosovo Diplomacy
For decades, Kosovo has been a country in limbo.
In some respects, it remains so. Dozens of United Nations members, including the United States, recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. But many do not, including Serbia, Russia, and five European Union member states.
SIPA student Behar Xharra (MIA ’12) is putting his studies to work to help his homeland gain worldwide acceptance. He says public diplomacy and branding are the keys.
“It’s particularly crucial for post-conflict countries like Kosovo,” Xharra says. “They need to reverse their image so they are not longer seen as war-torn but nations with potential.”
Xharra and co-author Martin Waehlisch produced a report entitled Public Diplomacy of Kosovo: Status Quo, Challenges and Options. Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) published their findings in October 2010, and people at the highest levels of Kosovo government and the diplomatic community are paying attention.
“The report has been discussed throughout the main political, civil, and diplomatic circles of Kosovo,” says Xharra. “It was received positively and we expect it will be presented again to the newly elected government.”
The report was presented at a conference on public diplomacy hosted by FES at the Prishtina-Kosovo National Museum. It was republished in May 2011 in the international Perspectives Series of the Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.
Xharra’s report is generating vigorous debate about the future of diplomacy in Kosovo. Xharra says Kosovo is in the process of shaping its institutions and vision for the future, and he wanted to do whatever he could to support the establishment of an institutional framework for public diplomacy.
“For Kosovo to have a place in the international system, it needs to be recognized by individual states,” Xharra explains. “Public diplomacy is a great tool for Kosovo to reach out to people in other countries, to make itself known, and seek its place in the international community.”
Alex Burnett, updated May 11, 2011