According to the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the latter is a "transparent means by which a sovereign country communicates with publics in other countries aimed at informing and influencing audiences overseas for the purpose of promoting the national interest and advancing its foreign policy goals"(http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/about/what_is_pd/).
Adopting a realist point of view on the international relations and taking for granted that every nation state is seeking its own national interest in a system that is by nature anarchical, public diplomacy appears as a legitimate follower to colonization. The only difference between public diplomacy and colonization would then be the means by which national interest is achieved. For the former it would take place through an indirect brain-wash of the masses by the spread of information and for the latter it would take place by a direct imposition of force.
Both public diplomacy and colonization can be seen as ways to promote national image in an economically profitable way. Public diplomacy seeks to influence people all over the world to think in a specific kind of way by at the same time attracting investments and tourism where colonization does nearly the same (trade agreements, cheap importation, promotion of national values abroad, etc...). However, where as the former is accepted the latter is condemned.
The difference between the two lies therefore in the modern Western public opinion deeply interconnected by what is considered right or wrong as related to democratical ethics.
Two examples of what seems to illustrate the modern hypocrite way of thinking are the condemnation of colonization by the United-States in the years following the end of World War II and its cultural, economical and military domination of the world in the second part of the 20th and the 21st century through hard and soft powers.
As well as the promotion of equality of states in the United Nations, and its obvious attempts of imposing democracy and its liberal values on nations that may not be interested in them (mainly by the 5 permanent members of the Security Council).
Public diplomacy seems to be a perfect way for governments to make people think in a specific kind of way. The attempt to boycott the Olympic Games in China (Beijing 2008) illustrates perfectly my latter points. (http://www.rsf.org/-Anglais-.html). How can states like the US, France or Great-Britain condemn the undemocratic China when they themselves are often blamed for selling a wide range of military technologies to dictatorships or else way undemocratic and doubtful states? Public diplomacy would then be just another way to hide the ugly truth and promote utopia.
Public diplomacy has on the other hand, a high potential for accomplishing good. It could be used in order to promote ecological awareness throughout the planet. An exceptionally good idea would be to use public diplomacy in order to promote environmental sustainability in massive international events such as the football World Cup 2010 in South Africa or the next Olympics in London in 2012.
To summarize, public diplomacy is a very effective tool in an intertwined world system. However, it is currently mainly used for the wrong purposes which makes it appear as just another form of colonialism. Since it has such a huge repercussion on nations all around the globe, it should be used to promote modern issues that concern us all, as well as our children, such as the environment.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective, but I must respectfully disagree. Public Diplomacy is already being used in negotiations relative to the environment as well as a myriad of other areas. In the case of the United States, Public Diplomacy is not being used to attempt to subvert or colonize other countries, but to promote and advertise its position on any issue. We, as individuals, plead our case to others every time we communicate in an attempt to have others recognize our own position. All countries do the same. If country X and country Y are opposed in their opinions, it is best for all parties to understand the other's position and then negotiate an equitable settlement.
Nay, my friend, public diplomacy is not another means of colonization. Public Diplomacy enables peaceful communications.
to a large extent I agree with Michael, but I would rather say that public diplomacy is a way to colonize the minds of the foreign public. i support my view applying Gramsci's theory of hegemony, according which the ruiling class creats consensus through the global civil societies, understood by Gramsci as the formal or informal networks, institutions and cultural practices which mediate between the individual and the state (Germain and Kelly, 1998). interesting is that, though Gramsci came to his conclusion through a historical analysis of his contemporary time, we can translate his analysis to our society adopting a broader view. The ruiling class becomes the dominant state, the petty bourgeoisis and the working class become the minor countries, and the civil society is broadened including media, and especially multi-media. Now, according to Gramsci, hegemony is the political leadership based on consent, which is secured by the diffusion and popularization of the view of the ruling class (Bates, 1975, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol.36, no.2) through the civil society and the intellectuals. now we can easily draw the conclusion that hegemonic states, such as the USA, use public diplomacy as a tool to expand and perpetrate their hegemony, spreading their ideology, in our case the neo-liberal one, and creating consensus which allows them to undisturbed keep their position of power. sure enough consent is the primary feature of democracy, and nothing works better than consent, especially mass-consent, to maintain the power. it can be argued that nowadays the dominant states have understood this, and as a matter of fact they work to creat consnet to legitimize their power using the effective tool of public diplomacy. they are creating one world, one ideology and all of us is tacitly joining it.
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