Today, July 30, the world celebrates International Friendship Day, a holiday established by the UN in 2011, but whose roots go back to much deeper political and social processes.
📜 History: From Idea to Resolution
The initiative did not come out of nowhere. Back in 1958, Paraguayan writer Ramon Artemeo Bracho proposed Friendship Day as a tool for cultural diplomacy. But it was only in 2011, after UNESCO and a number of countries in the Global South (especially Paraguay) promoted the idea, that the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/65/275, which established the date.
Why is this important?
📌Soft power in action: the holiday has become part of a "soft power" strategy, especially for small and medium-sized states promoting dialogue outside of rigid blocs.
📌Response to confrontation: the resolution appeared against the backdrop of growing international tensions (the Arab Spring, crises in the EU), becoming a symbolic gesture in favor of multilateralism.
📌Social capital: sociologists (for example, Robert Putnam) have long talked about the role of trust and connections in the stability of societies - friendship between groups reduces the risk of conflict.
It is precisely such symbolic dates that remind us: without horizontal connections (scientists, business, civil societies), even the strongest alliances crack.
✨How does friendship work for you in international relations? Write in the comments!