Herawati Diah’s cultural diplomacy: redefining the role of a diplomat’s spouse in 1950s–1960s Indonesia

This article explores the cultural diplomacy undertaken by Herawati Diah, a former journalist and women’s activist who, as the wife of Ambassador B.M. Diah, leveraged informal spaces to advance Indonesia’s national interests in Czechoslovakia-Hungary, the United Kingdom, and Thailand. Far from considering her role as merely ceremonial, Herawati Diah perceived her position as strategically significant in executing public diplomacy. She positioned herself as her husband’s professional partner, employing cultural diplomacy strategies to introduce, strengthen, and ease diplomatic relations between Indonesia and other nations. This study argues that Herawati Diah’s informal and culturally rooted diplomatic initiatives significantly contributed to promoting Indonesia’s national interests, both with allied nations and those in tension with Indonesia, on the international stage.