01847nas a2200229   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653002300043653000900066653002000075653002000095653002100115653001400136100001300150700001200163245010600175856015100281300001200432490000700444520114600451022002001597                                       d10acultural diplomacy10aFood10aGastrodiplomacy10aNation branding10aPublic diplomacy10aSingapore1 aSeow Lee1 aHun Kim00aFood fight: gastrodiplomacy and nation branding in Singapore s UNESCO bid to recognize Hawker culture  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85083802687&doi=10.1057%2fs41254-020-00166-3&partnerID=40&md5=638969e0fe541366d6b139ef4cbaabde  a205-2170 v173 aWe applied a conceptual lens of gastrodiplomacy, or how countries conduct cultural diplomacy through the strategic use of cuisine in influencing perceptions of a nation, to examine middle power Singapore’s national and international campaigns to inscribe its hawker culture through UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. With a rather robust nation brand and established programs in gastrodiplomacy, Singapore is the first among Southeast Asian nations to take the first step to seek international and formal food-based recognition. Above everything else, Singapore’s UNESCO bid is motivated by a desire, in collaboration with non-state actors, to further increase the value and standing of its nation brand through food. As self-making, Singapore’s bid builds not only upon national identity creation within its national borders but also othering, a process of shaping the country’s unique dissimilarities to differentiate from other nation states especially its neighbors to reap the expected perceptible benefits of a tangible and emotional transnational connection with its foreign publics through food.  a17518040 (ISSN)