Public diplomacy is a way for nations to influence foreign populations through educational, entertainment, or inspirational approaches. Embassies are the main source of local public diplomacy, promoting their country and citizens. Examples include the Apollo 11 mission and Cuba’s efforts in cultural diplomacy. The true motivation behind public diplomacy is subjective.
Public diplomacy is a form of international relations, or some would say propaganda, in which a nation seeks to sway another nation’s citizenry towards favorable opinions through various educational, entertainment, or inspirational public approaches. While public diplomacy is loosely defined and can have different connotations, it has clear goals in mind. It is an attempt to influence the perspective of foreign populations, and this can be seen as mutually beneficial by the nations involved, or as a form of political warfare.
Foreign embassies are the main source of local public diplomacy. When local officials, students, or traders approach an embassy for guidance on its policies, trade, educational exchanges, and so on, they are invited to speak with diplomats whose sole purpose is to promote their native country in the brightest light. favorable as possible. Diplomats also have the task of promoting the activities of their citizens residing in foreign countries or engaged in international competitions, such as athletes, performers and artists.
Events that might seem harmlessly uplifting to a local population can still be used as a form of public diplomacy. The American Apollo 11 mission that landed men on the moon on July 20, 1969 is a good example. The Voice of America, operating as a radio service of the United States Information Agency (USIA), used it as an opportunity to broadcast a vision of America’s technological superiority and cultural dominance to the rest of the world.
Another example of public diplomacy in action is the way the tiny Cuban nation has used its stature as an underdog against the much more powerful United States, as well as projecting an image of its leader Fidel Castro as a victim of imperialist propaganda. In the early 1960s, her efforts in this kind of soft public diplomacy enabled her to end her political isolation and garner the support of groups such as the Organization for Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, the Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL). Additionally, Cuba promotes cultural diplomacy by hosting up to 30,000 foreign students in Cuban educational programs and sends thousands of doctors and other medical personnel to developing countries each year, in an effort of goodwill and alliance building.
Whether public diplomacy is really propaganda about the job or motivated through altruistic means is in the eye of the beholder. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s funneling of millions of dollars into building the African Union’s 53-nation alliance was seen in Africa as a mutually beneficial approach toward the continent’s local economic and political integration. The ultimate goal was a union like the European Union, with a single currency, a passport and a single African military force for all. Western nations, however, saw it as a long-term form of public diplomacy, an attempt by Libya to buy petrodollar friendships in a transparent attempt to create a power bloc that could rival the West in the region.
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