Edet Adu J2025-09-132025-09-132023https://repository.ndu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/86Defense diplomacy has grown in importance as a means of encouraging international cooperation in the development of diplomatic competence. Since achieving its independence from the United Kingdom in 1963, Kenya has been actively involved in defense diplomacy both inside and outside of the greater Eastern African region. This research study's main objective was to determine how defense diplomacy promoted security in Kenya from 2012 to 2022. The study's three main goals were to analyse the role of defence diplomacy in advancing Kenya's national security, assess the influence of regional and international organizations to which Kenya is a signatory, and finally, investigate potential obstacles Kenya may face in the future in its pursuit of defense diplomacy. This study adopted the application of the Social Constructivism theory of IR to explain causal relationship between Diplomacy and National Security. The theory was considered ideal for the study because of its belief that reality is socially constructed. In the sense that constructivists place a larger emphasis on norm creation, identity, and ideational power than the other major theoretical paradigms, defense diplomacy has played a crucial role in both physical and human security. Because of the study's emphasis on the nature of conflict in relation to state power structures, these theories were thought to be ideal for the situation. The research technique adopted was a mixed-methods approach, with a predetermined questionnaire being used to collect the data. Professional high level public officials who had all completed graduate-level education made up 78.3% of the sampled population. 34% of this group have experience working at Kenya's diplomatic missions abroad. According to the report, joint military exercises and operations to impose peace were the most common defense diplomacy initiatives, followed by peacekeeping operations, joint regional drills, and military secondment in international and regional organizations. The study also discovered that Kenya's defense diplomacy strategy is significantly shaped by its membership in regional and global organizations. According to study data, 72% of respondents agreed that Kenya's defense diplomacy is crucial in preventing regional interstate wars. According to the study's data, 73.9% of respondents believed that defense diplomacy was essential to Kenya's peace-building initiatives, but 64% of the same respondents did not express confidence in the ability of defense diplomacy to adequately address all Kenya's national security issues. The study uncovered a number of difficulties. According to 87% of respondents, key obstacles to defense diplomacy operations and programs include corruption and bad government. The survey suggests improved legal and policy frameworks as relevant approaches to strengthen Kenya's defense diplomacy, which is endorsed by 84% of respondents. This is in addition to the established frameworks outlined in the Kenya Defence Forces Act and the nation's 2010 constitution. Key words: Defence Diplomacy, National Security, Policy Formulation.enThesis