The utility of social media platforms as means for communication and engagement has become important for those responsible for public diplomacy. This article addresses this nexus between social media ...studies and diplomacy studies using original empirical research based on Facebook pages published by the diplomatic missions of 8 nations in 22 host nations. Data from 161 pages from January to December 2016 were extracted using Netvizz. A multi-stage mixed-methods approach uses quantifiable engagement data and qualitative content. The analysis varies from many previous studies by foregrounding social media as a communication environment and by including audiences/users as active participants. The findings suggest Facebook diplomacy is more relevant in countries that are smaller, poorer and closer. They categorise content using a four-part taxonomy of diplomatic discourse: outward-facing publicity, inward-facing publicity, engagement, and user-generated content. The article aims to develop the field of digital diplomacy studies by highlighting innovative findings and suggesting trajectories for further scholarship.
The Cold War constituted a major challenge for small neutral states forced to justify their political positioning. Neutrality, criticized or misunderstood, became a major issue for diplomats. ...Comparing the case of Switzerland with that of Sweden, Finland and Austria shows the immediate post-war period to be a key moment during which the original mechanisms of public diplomacy to justify their neutrality were developed. Presented as a political weapon, neutrality was also integrated within discourse on national identity. There are enough similarities with regard to public diplomacy in these small neutral states to identify a model that is specific to them.
Using a statecraft framework, the article analyses Cold War US-Soviet exchange programs with a specific focus on scientific-technical exchanges. The practice of scientific-technical exchanges is ...meaningful at least in three ways: (1) it helps to better understand the art of American and Soviet statecraft that had a major impact on the course of events in maintaining inter-state relations; (2) it shows that statecraft does not make itself, but is accomplished through various tools of public diplomacy in which exchange programs are one; and (3) it allows to utilize a long-term perspective and evaluate the legacy of the exchanges of persons and their impact on bilateral relations despite the Cold War tensions. The legacy of scientific-technical exchanges and their impact on bilateral relations might be incorporated into the contemporary academic and practitioner discourse on public diplomacy.
Soviet public diplomacy Velikaya, Anna A.
Place branding and public diplomacy,
06/2022, Letnik:
18, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The research gives an overview of Soviet public diplomacy, and the expectations Soviet people have had for it. In this article we examine how Soviet public diplomacy has contributed to promoting the ...country’s policy priorities worldwide since the 1920s. In particular, we first reveal how cultural diplomacy was used with the purpose of gaining international recognition and terminating starvation in the 1920s. Afterwards, we examine the practice of increasing the number of Soviet friends and proponents in the 1930s through friendship societies and cultural diplomacy tools. Additionally, the role of public diplomacy in WWII as anti-fascism resistance committees, friendship societies and international broadcasting cooperation of allied nations, including within the sphere of anti-Nazi disinformation, is discovered. Following this, the methods of Soviet public diplomacy during the Cold war confrontation are analysed through people-to-people diplomacy mechanisms, science diplomacy and development assistance to the "non-alignment" countries. Lastly, the target audience of Soviet public diplomacy is defined, along with the analysis of the main Soviet public diplomacy institutions under the lens of their activities. The article states that the Soviet Union had a strong centralized public diplomacy system aimed at the needs of foreign policy. During the Cold war, huge amounts of money were spent on the battle of two ideologies. Dogmatism, the impossibility of critical thinking within the framework of the existing system, closed borders did not contribute to the formation of a favorable image of the country. While internal problems undermined the image and attractiveness of the late USSR, for decades it was successful in winning the hearts and minds of foreign "movers and shakers".
Summit lunches celebrate commensality, the practice of eating together, which provides a convivial setting for leaders to sit together, negotiate agreements, and smooth out differences. A diplomatic ...event can be splendid and ceremonial, or a private working lunch, with symbols embedded that can have impact on global issues. The dishes represent national values and attend to personal favorites, recognizing the identity and relationship of those present. As instruments in the art of diplomacy, meals give participants the opportunity to identify and understand the messages such occasions create. Understanding the social semiotics of culinary diplomacy allows researchers to analyze summit lunches and other diplomatically significant events. Drawing on culinary diplomacy and social semiotics, this article explores the semiotics associated with culinary diplomacy by analyzing the working lunch of the Trump-Kim 2018 Summit between American President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un held in Singapore. In a qualitative analysis of the media reporting of this summit, this study proposes that the strategic setting made by the protocol and food of the working lunch conveys messages of status and symbolism that impact foreign diplomacy. Insight gained from this study highlights how a dining table can trump the conference table in initiating a conversation, especially among enemies.
Russian public diplomacy has recently minimized its traditional approach of soft power and cultural diplomacy in favor of strategic communication involving political marketing and sharp power. This ...article discusses the theoretical implications of soft power, political marketing, and strategic communication for public diplomacy and reviews Russia's conspicuous projects of public diplomacy in the domains of traditional and digital communication. It shows that Russia's public diplomacy has recently exploited strategic communication and political marketing more often than soft power, dialogue, and engagement. As a consequence, despite new reforms and financial support from the government, Russia's public diplomacy can neither win over target audiences nor improve its brand via foreign aid.
Importance of public diplomacy for states foreign policy implementation and image formation continued to grow over past few decades. New communication technologies provided new means for more ...successful public diplomacy implementation. The aim of this article is to examine the role of twiplomacy in states foreign policy implementation. Twiplomacy is quite new phenomenon, but its significance is undeniable. A lot of states leaders, governmental institutions, diplomatic missions and diplomats have accounts in Twitter and use it for promoting foreign policy goals and developing positive image of state. Social networks are used to implement states’ public diplomacy, because they provide opportunity to reach mainstream audiences, to develop dialogue amongst politicians and wider audiences and influence people opinion on important issues.
•Traditional public diplomacy is transforming.•We examine the U.S. Embassy's public diplomatic communication via social media.•We use the methods of content analysis and interview.•Experience-sharing ...and relationship-building is the core of new public diplomacy.
With the evolution of communication technologies, traditional public diplomacy is transforming. This study examines the practice of the U.S. Embassy's public diplomatic communication via social media, namely Chinese mainstream blogging and micro-blogging, sites using Tencent for a case study. This study analyzes the embassy's blog and micro-blog entries and an interview with the embassy's public diplomacy officer. Based on the content analysis and interview, this study discerns the key features of the U.S. Embassy's public diplomatic communication using social media and further suggests that the common values and interests related to the global public as well as experience-sharing and relationship-building might become the focus of new public diplomacy research.
Several bi-national exhibitions staged in the Edwardian London became the first contemporary campaigns of public diplomacy. The emergence of exhibitions as a medium, the rise of mass consumption and ...mass media as well as the increased differentiation of leisure practices produced an environment where some developing countries used the setup of bi-national exhibitions to sell their country in the capital of the leading world power. The governments of these countries sought to renegotiate their national image abroad by displaying both their cultural idiosyncrasy and economic development in order to find foreign investments, forge political alliances and improve their country’s outside perception.
This article discusses the budding opportunity for the beer industry, namely craft beer, to serve as a major public diplomacy tool, much in the same way “wine diplomacy” is used in nations such as ...Chile, Argentina, and France to connect with foreign audiences. The article assesses states, cities, and regions’ potential for using the beer industry as a catalyst for tourism and international image. The existence of exchanges in the craft beer industry is also assessed as a public diplomacy tool to foster mutual understanding between people from different nations. The article also addresses examples of beer being used to explicitly engage in cultural diplomacy, such as the example of the Palestinian breweries that export to Israel, in an attempt to change perceptions. The article then analyzes the value of themed national pubs for public diplomacy, serving a similar role as pavilions in World Expos, as is the case with Irish pubs around the world. National pubs can create a national image abroad, but can also foster stereotypes and prejudices if not done authentically. At the same time, because of the flexible nature of beer, especially craft beer, the possibility of utilizing local and traditional ingredients allows for the construction of national beers that can be used to create symbols in the international community. Additionally, this article briefly discusses the relationship between beer and politics, namely the phenomenon in American politics in which beer is used to connect with constituents, as demonstrated by the Obama administration, and used in the debate of divisive issues. Finally, the article addresses the growth of the industry and how it offers numerous opportunities to engage with foreign audiences. This becomes especially relevant if we consider the global reach of beer and its presence in many consumers’ everyday lives.
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