On 26. November, the Expert roundtable “Winning Hearts and Minds? Public Diplomacy and Norm Entrepreneurs in Central Asia” took place that I organised in cooperation with my colleague Dr. Aijan Sharshenova from the OSCE Academy. This half-day long expert roundtable brought together several qualified speakers to discuss foreign public diplomacy actors and norm entrepreneurs in Central Asia. Based on a selection of experts on foreign policy, public diplomacy and soft power, this roundtable aims to spark a discussion on the varieties, formats and contents of external public diplomacy efforts in Central Asia. The key purpose of this workshop was to increase awareness and understanding of soft power and public diplomacy and to facilitate a policy-relevant discussion on how and why external powers choose to have their norm entrepreneurs in Central Asia.

- Chiara Pierobon