There is no doubt that the "new diplomacy" brought about many phenomena completely new to the traditional perception of diplomacy. It would be too far- fetched though to say that the old diplomacy is obsolete now, Putting it colloquially, it would be more accurate to say that if films went 3d then diplomacy went multi-d. One of the dimensions that I consider to be of significant importance is public diplomacy.
One of the reasons for my view is tht public diplomacy offers something that on such a large scale and in such direct ways was absent in traditional diplomacy: a dialogue with foreign public. The new public diplomacy engages in a chain of interactions with its target audience and transforms according to public's reactions. It allows a long- term relationship (either good or bad in some cases) to be created which always allows a better understanding of the agent's (wheter it's a state or not) policy or cultural heritage (in case of states).
Here another reason is revealed: in the times of globalization, public diplomacy makes the network system of states' promotion easier, especially the promotion of cultural diversity. As James K. Glassman decribes it in his speech as U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in 2008 (can be accessed on: http://www.cfr.org/publication/16719/public_diplomacy_in_the_twentyfirst_century.html), nowadays the most important public diplomats are actually the citizens of the state themselves. That is an immense transition in comparison to diplomacy's roots of secrecy and aristocracy.
Exchange programmes, language and teaching programmes are just a few examples of wht Glassman mentions as the new strategies for U.S.'s public diplomacy. What is more, I think public diplomacy is an excellent example of how many new tools were possesed by diplomacy on the spectrum of years. Complex websites or also mentioned by Glassman video conferences providing information about state and sending abroad groups of well- trained experts from various fields are the common means of contemporary public diplomacy.
Another important aspect of public diplomacy is its war on terror, also known as The Long War which started directly after the 9/11. I do not think that any other aspect of the new diplomacy played such an important role in the process of "fighting" the terrorism. So far, it was not highly successful, even though the struggle lasts longer than World War 2 but many theorists claim that it is the fault of the nature of democratic politics in contemporary world (Taylor, 2008). However, public diplomacy remains the vital element of the war on terror and it is very unlikely that it will be dropped, it is rather going to evolve and develop more but this is for the future to show.
You raise very interesting points. However, I would like to suggest to you the idea of propaganda: this is in the sense of the war on terror.
ReplyDeleteThe Iraq war in 2003 was justified by the USA and the UK governments that it was tackling the war on terror and that Iraq held WMDs on a extreme scale.
Due to this case not being true it could be said that public diplomacy was exploited by these governments.