The Role of Sports Diplomacy in Promoting Kenya’s Foreign Policy Goals (2002-2018)

Kenya’s foreign policy anchors towards its interlinking pillars, with the cultural diplomacy pillar seeking to promote sports diplomacy by recognizing the role of athletes. Kenya therefore seeks to pursue its national interests in its relations with other countries through sports diplomacy to meet its foreign policy objectives. These foreign policy goals include integration, projection of Kenya’s image and prestige, regional peace and security, multilateralism, economic prosperity of Kenya and its people and protection of Kenya’s sovereignty and territory integrity. The study examines the significance of sports diplomacy in promoting Kenya’s foreign policy goals. The study seeks to answer how sports diplomacy promote Kenya’s political image, the impact of sports diplomacy on Kenya’s economic development and the role of sports diplomacy in promoting peaceful interactions between Kenya and her neighbors. These objectives guide the findings and are transcribed via narrative text, using content from both primary and secondary data. Kenya has a remarkable international sporting pedigree and is internationally recognized as a consistent, high-performing sporting nation. Kenya therefore has potential to capitalize further in its full suite of sport diplomacy by engaging with other countries and achieving public diplomacy outcomes regionally and internationally. Kenya is yet to master a sports strategy to help it in pursuing its national goals through its foreign policy.