This article analyzes President George W. Bush's 2005 visit to the Netherlands-American Military Cemetery in Margraten as a case study in transatlantic 'memory diplomacy' in the context of the 'War on Terror.' It explores why, how and to what ends US diplomats in the Netherlands employed President Bush's visit to Margraten, and the collective memory attached to this place, for transatlantic political-diplomatic purposes. By incorporating the role and agency of Dutch citizens in the development of the local commemorative culture, which in turn informed alternative-'vernacular'-interpretations of the 'meaning' of Margraten as a lieu de memoire, it demonstrates not only how top-down-'official'-aims and narratives were at times contested, but also how public diplomacy has the power to obfuscate such alternative meanings, while simultaneously building upon these citizen initiatives for its own purposes. More specifically, this article demonstrates how president Bush's visit was rhetorically and visually framed through the memory of World War II-linked to Margraten as the decor of this transatlantic diplomatic spectacle-and how this framing in turn informed 'emotional norms' that facilitated the creation of an unequal platform for political messaging in favor of the purposes and narratives of the official political-diplomatic actors.
