The Science behind United States Smart Power in Honduras: Archaeological Heritage Diplomacy

The cultural heritage of Honduras offers a critical platform for United States heritage diplomacy under the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Cultural Heritage Center. Of specific note is the formal 2004 Honduran–American Memorandum of Understanding for the preservation of cultural property and, beginning in 2001, periodic projects under the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. The diplomatic efficacy of American cultural heritage policy and the Ambassadors Fund comes from long-term, sustained funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Fulbright Program. Established networks by archaeologists have enabled the successful re-entry of United States cultural diplomacy in Honduras in the last decade.