Translated by Francesca Valsecchi
From the beginnings of the US republic, the First Ladies have been holding a hybrid position in the political and diplomatic system. With a symbolic and relational wealth, their influence has contributed to outline an American soft diplomacy, leaving a mark on global dynamics.
For example, Dolley Madison was able to turn the White House into a political and social mediation place. Or Eleanor Roosevelt, who, as a central character in the support of human rights and as Observer of the United Nations, was able to smooth the way for the following diplomatic First Ladies.
Jacie Kennedy, with her elegant and cosmopolitan style, shaped the role of the First Lady, making it a strong soft power tool, using culture as a diplomatic language: thanks to the enhancement of the arts and the restauration of the White House, she turned the seat of the American power into a prestigious and internationally highly sophisticated symbol. Hillary Clinton, who was a lawyer and active in politics, lead the health-care reform through the Health Care Task Force, and she stood out on the international scene with her famous speech at the Fourth World Conference on Women, which took place in Beijing in 1995. After that, she became a member of the Senate and Secretary of State.
Michelle Obama, ambassador of Obama’s moral and inclusive image of the United States, embodies a balance between diplomacy and activism. Through education and health campaigns and female empowerment, her diplomacy was based on authenticity and empathy.
And after all these leading figures, there is today the enigmatic and contradictory figure of Melania Trump. The former Slovenian model has come back at the centre of the international world, claiming a humanitarian role and mediating between Washington and Moscow.
Being surely remembered for her dislike for Christmas decorations, she is a First Lady who does not participate a lot, but whose image is a political message intermediary. Recently, the opening of a channel of communication between her and Putin, which allowed about ten Ukrainian children to be reunited with their families, has made people talking. This initiative originated by a personal letter that she had written to the Russian president. It is important to remember, that the First Lady has been active in humanitarian campaigns for a long time. For example, the Be Best in defence of minors and the Take It Down Act against revenge porn.
In this conflictual situation, Melania’s action appears as a diplomatic move, which affects the relationship between two big opponents on a humanitarian and political level.
From a strategical point of view, this move is an advantage for the White House. If on the one hand the image of openness and humanity of this First Lady is fascinating, contrasting the hardness and conservatism of Trump’s foreign politics, on the other hand this action can lead to the attempt of a dialogue with Moscow without coming to terms and compromises.
So, Melania plays the undeclared “backchannel” role, a useful way to keep discussion alive in a moment of high geopolitical tension. It is not the first time that something like this happens: during the Cold War Nancy Reagan maintained informal correspondence with Soviets through charity initiatives.
It is in the age of cognitive war and social media that Melania Trump brings this logic on a different level, using diplomacy through the image. Thanks to an almost hidden and shy presence, her emotional language focused on children and the use of humanitarian channels allow her to build this emphatic narration, surely improving her husband's politics and making Donald’s polarized leadership more “human” from the international public opinion’s point of view.
Melania Trump’s experience shows how foreign politics is not exclusively defined at the negotiating tables nowadays. The First Ladies become actresses of a hybrid diplomacy: their image, empathy, elegance and culture are used as weapons in the promotion of international relations. Melania has therefore a precise role: she is silent but visible, non-political but politically useful. Her character shows the metamorphosis of diplomacy, where emotivity and empathy count as much as strategy.
Melania does not talk as a political leader, but her image is used as a message: a reassuring face who humanizes a political project which is hardly divisive. The question that we are then asked is the following: is this form of soft power humanitarian or will it become a sophisticated operation of geopolitical legitimation instead?
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