Love Thai food? It might be thanks to a two-decade long policy on the part of the government of Thailand to promote its food culture abroad, with the express aim of increasing trade and tourism.
Culinary diplomacy is the use of food and cuisine as tools of reaching across cultural divides or getting to know people better.
GFI's Sam Chapple-Sokol, who teaches a course on culinary diplomacy at GW, explains why gastro-diplomacy is such an effective tool for soft power.