1.1 Introduction Public diplomacy is regarded as a widely accepted concept, although it is much debated, both in theory and in practice. In this chapter, we shall consider the origin of the term Úpublic diplomacyÛ; some alternative de÷nitions; the relevance of communications theory; the distinction between traditional and public diplomacy; the three essential dimensions of public diplomacy; and the question of listening and messaging.
1.2 Origin of the term Úpublic diplomacyÛ The term Úpublic diplomacyÛ in its current use1 was coined in 1965, at the height of the Cold War, by the American academic and former diplomat Edmund Gullion. The United States was engaged, with its allies, in an ideological struggle with the Soviet Union, entailing strenuous efforts by governments on both sides to demonstrate to the public in each othersØ countries Õ and elsewhere in the world Õ the superiority of their cause. Gullion was seeking a means of describing the activities undertaken by the United States to persuade and inøuence people that would distinguish them from those of the Soviet Union, which were regarded in the West as propaganda. (We shall look more closely at propaganda in Chapter 3.) Although closely associated with the activities of the United States Government Õ both during the Cold War and after 9/11 Õ the term Úpublic diplomacyÛ has now become an accepted description of public information activities undertaken by governments and, some would argue, by other international actors as well. The adoption of the term did not itself change these activities, many of which had been in existence for a long time. In recent decades, however, public diplomacy practices have evolved rapidly, reøecting technological and societal change. In response to this evolution, reference is now frequently made to the Únew public diplomacyÛ 2.
1.3 Some alternative de÷nitions As with diplomacy more broadly, there is no shortage of de÷nitions of public diplomacy. When Edmund Gullion set up the Edward R. Murrow Center of Public Diplomacy in 1965, the new institutionØs brochure described public diplomacy as follows:
ÚPublic diplomacyà deals with the inøuence of public attitudes on the formation and execution of foreign policies. It encompasses dimensions of international relations beyond traditional diplomacy; the cultivation by governments of public opinion in other countries; the interaction of private groups and interests in one country with another; the reporting of foreign affairs and its impact 1 The earliest recorded use of the phrase mpublic diplomacy| was in 1856 in a leading article in The Times. The intended meaning of the phrase was not however that current today. At the time, the expression was used as a synonym for ÚcivilityÛ in a piece criticizing the public behaviour of the then United States President Franklin Pierce. Subsequently, the term was used to refer to public declarations made by governments, or for the open diplomacy expounded in, for example, President Woodrow WilsonØs Fourteen Points. (See Nicholas J. Cull, ×Public DiplomacyØ before Gullion: The Evolution of a Phrase, University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, 18 April, 2006.) 2 See, for example, Jan Melissen (ed), The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 18
Public Diplomacy: What it is - and how to do it