Poetry, Citizenship and Diplomacy: The Case of Western Sahara

This article argues for greater consideration of the role of poetry and poets in diplomacy and as a medium for the recognition of contested citizenships. We take Western Sahara, the site of an ongoing anti-colonial war, as our case study and explore how Saharawi poets engage foreign publics in their national struggle to become citizens of an independent Saharawi Republic. We contend that poetry can be considered a form of public or citizen diplomacy, and poets as citizen diplomats, when advocating for a state policy, interest or cause. We also show that studying poetry through the lens of public and citizen diplomacy allows us to learn more about the interplay of emotion and soft power in constituting citizens and in the relations between citizens of different states. In doing so, we contribute to ongoing debates on the role of non-state actors in public diplomacy and on the place of emotion in diplomacy. The article is based on fieldwork carried out in late 2022 and early 2023, in Mauritania, the Saharawi refugee camps/state-in-exile in Algeria, and in Spain.