CPD Blog Contributor and MPD Alumnus Quoted on Gastrodiplomacy

CPD Blog Contributor and MPD Alumnus (2010) Paul Rockower was recently quoted in The Indianapolis Star on Thai gastrodiplomacy.

For years, Thailand has been able to conduct public diplomacy with the establishment of thousands of authentic restaurants around the world. The country has invited millions to get a taste, literally, of their nation. Jolene Ketzenberger, the article’s author, notes that the Thai government established Global Thai, a program focused on boosting the number of Thai restaurants around the world, in 2002. Rockower spoke of other nations using similar gastrodiplomacy approaches to nation branding and profile raising. He took the example of Korean taco trucks in Los Angeles, CA: "The beauty of the Korean taco is that it takes something foreign to American audiences and introduces it through a more familiar dish like a taco," said Rockower. "Korean tacos and kimchi quesadillas are helping make Korean food far more mainstream."

To read the article, click here.

To read Rockower’s previous CPD blog post on Korean taco trucks in Los Angles, click here.