Arts, media and culture as tools for social change in the Middle East

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Arts, media and culture can be useful tools for fostering social change in the middle east. Former U.S. ambassador Cynthia Schneider spoke about her research project, which explores how media can help hold governments accountable.

"I think in today's interconnected world, it much more effective and much more important way of doing (public diplomacy) is to learn about the other country through its cultural figures and products and then to understand how they work to promote social change, advance tolerance, an open society, individual rights, all of these values that we share with many people around the world but in their own context," Schneider said.

Dr. Schneider has experienced the music and art of Afghanistan and Pakistan culture firsthand.

"They have of course their own singers, their own types of music. There are really a lot of folk songs and the most popular Afghan singer today is known as Afghan Elvis, most of the songs are about love. They’re about love and relationships, just as we would think, just like ours. They write about how beautiful someone looks or how someones broken their heart. Sometimes they're about mixed marriages with different ethnic groups. but these are traditional songs that are sometimes sung in a slightly jazzier way, but they resonate with the Afghan population," Schneider said.

Schneider hopes that her research will prompt policy makers to integrate a knowledge of international cultures into the political sphere.

"And this isn't just kind of a nice thing to do anymore," Schneider said. "I think one of the things the Arab revolution has shown us is that it's essential to America's security as well. So I hope that people will not just judge and evaluate these countries based on the military action there. there's so much more going on."