Introduction Many excellent books have been published on public diplomacy, the best of which offer powerful analysis and valuable strategic advice. While it is arguably invidious to select any one of these publications, Jan MelissenØs The New Public Diplomacy: Between Theory and Practice* is a seminal work, strongly recommended to anyone seeking an introduction to the world of public diplomacy. So too are Joseph NyeØs books and articles on soft power. Special mention should also be made of the outstanding work conducted at the University of Southern California, where the Annenberg School is a rich repository of research and writing on public diplomacy. (Full details of these, and other relevant publications, can be found in the further reading section of this book.) There are also many self-help books publicly available offering advice on generic skills such as speech-making and public relations management. Similarly, numerous foreign ministries also produce guidance on such techniques and on how to manage their particular public diplomacy programmes, such as scholarships and exchange programmes. What seems to be lacking, however, is a book that seeks to combine both an analytical study of public diplomacy and advice on its day-to-day practice. This modest volume is an attempt to ÷ll that gap. Anyone familiar with UNITARØs online course ÚPublic Diplomacy in a Multipolar WorldÛ will recognise much of the content of this book. In publishing the material in book form it is our hope that it will reach a much wider audience. Alan Hunt, August 2015
* Jan Melissen (ed), The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
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Public Diplomacy: What it is - and how to do it