Transcript Document

AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES
Communication and Public Diplomacy
Prof. Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine
Structure of the Lecture
• Introduction
• 1. International Relations and
Public Diplomacy
• 2. US Public Diplomacy
• 3. German Diplomacy of
Dialogue
• 2.1 Realist, unilateralist, shortterm state-centered paradigm
• 3.1 Idealist, multilateralist,
long-term civil-society centered
paradigm
• Summary
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Introduction
•
After September 11, Americans sensed the urgent
need to communicate with the world, particularly
the Arab and Islamic world
•
Anti-Americanism seems to have become a new
buzzword in today’s world
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Introduction
•
For scholars of international politics and international political
communication, 9/11 presented a pressing need not only to
examine the root causes of this unprecedented expression of
anti-Americanism but to solve America’s image problems by
explaining US policies and ideas to overseas audiences
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Introduction
•
For many Americans, public diplomacy helped to win the Cold
War
•
In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001,
Americans policy makers, journalists and academicians
concluded that public diplomacy could help to overcome antiAmericanism, particularly in the Arab and Islamic world
•
The US political leadership responded to this antiAmericanism by a public diplomacy campaign to “win minds
and hearts,” and thus create a new resource for power in
international relations
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Introduction
•
Public diplomacy has become an almost invisible feature of
contemporary international politics
•
International politics has been turned into an arena of
competing news stories between media players
•
It has been agued that the “means to success in WORLD
politics” is to know how to wield WORD politics or soft power
effectively
•
The media has become one of the central players in
international politics
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1. International Relations and Public Diplomacy
•
International relations are witnessing a shift in the way
countries manage their foreign affairs
•
The success of a country’s foreign policy relies on the
success of its public diplomacy
•
Immediately after September 11, 2001 several policy makers,
politicians and academics argued that in an age characterized
by the limits of military power, public diplomacy should be
made an integral part of US foreign
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Soft Power
•
In a Brookings Institution Report, scholars argued
that “public diplomacy” is the “primary tool” through
which the US can harness “soft power”
•
The term “soft power” was first coined in the late
1980s by Joseph Nye, outgoing Dean of the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University
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Soft Power
•
It has been defined as
»
•
“the ability to get desired outcomes because
others want what you want. It is the ability to
achieve goals through attraction rather than
coercion.”
It is also described as “the most efficient” means of power “as
it does not require the use of force or huge financial payoffs to
achieve or sustain one’s policy objectives”
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Soft Power
•
In the context of America’s relations with the Islamic
world, “soft power/public diplomacy” has become
vital to the country’s “battle for the hearts and
minds” of the citizens of the Islamic world
•
It has been suggested even by realists that
something should be done for the sake of the “nonkinetic aspects of the war”
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Soft Power
•
For example, Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of
Defense, has talked positively about the necessity
to do a better job “with respect to the nonmilitary
aspects of the challenge.”
•
Consequently, the Pentagon established special
offices to help reach public diplomacy goals
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CNN-EFFECT/Media Factor
•
The importance of the media factor in international relations
and diplomacy has become evident
•
Media coverage of an event has profound implications for
international relations
•
As Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, contended,
“CNN is the sixteenth member of the U.N. Security Council”
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CNN-EFFECT/Media Factor
•
The function of public diplomacy and broadcasting is the
confrontation of “an iron curtain of misunderstanding” that
separates America from the Arab and Islamic world
•
Aware of its declining image among the public in the Arab and
Islamic world, the United States was forced to fight back with
its own communication efforts
•
Americans have paid attention to the role that media plays in feeding
international conflicts
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CNN-EFFECT/Media Factor
•
The American “information edge” proclaimed by Nye has not solved
America’s image problems
•
However, in an age characterized by an information overload,
attention rather than information is the scarce resource
•
Communication has assumed a central place in the public diplomacy
paradigm
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
The Bush Administration announced a program of public
diplomacy to reach out to the Islamic world
•
The White House believed that such an initiative, based on
public diplomacy practices coupled with marketing expertise,
would bring an accurate understanding of America to the
Islamic world and thus reduce the potential for future conflict
•
Henry Hyde, the Chair of the House International Relations
Committee, called for the State Department to consult “those
in the private sector whose careers have focused on images
both here and around the world.”
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
The United States launched an intensified public relations offensive
at the State Department
•
In October 2001, the State Department hired Charlotte Beers, a
veteran Madison Avenue advertising executive, as Under-Secretary
for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, with the main mission of
“selling” American policies and viewpoints to Arabs and Muslims
•
According to her, public diplomacy is “not really about advertising…it
is about informing, engaging and influencing key international
audiences…to advance US interests and security and to provide the
moral basis for US leadership in the world.”
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
Nye distinguishes between three types of public diplomacy all
of which have equal importance

The first type is daily communications, which involves explaining
the context of domestic and foreign policy decisions

The second type is strategic communication, which involves
special focus on particular policy themes or initiatives

The third type is public diplomacy through scholarships,
exchanges, training and conferences
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
Nye’s categorization is useful in understanding the
Bush Administration’s preferred type of public
diplomacy
•
In fact, the Administration’s first approach was to
rely on broadcasting to send messages to the
Muslim world
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
According to K. Tomlinson, the former Director of the Voice of
America (VOA), Washington focused on electronic media for three
fundamental reasons



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1. Television has already become the most important medium in the
region for news and information, since more than four out of five people
get all or almost all of their news from television and they trust television
more than any of the other media channels
2. Satellite television offers the chance to break the grip of the regime
over audiovisual media outlets to promote pluralism of opinions
3. To win “more long-term and reliable friends through the provision of
accurate, balanced and reliable information.”
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
In addition, there are other reasons behind the US
determination to focus on broadcasting
•
1. There has been a broadcasting tradition in
American public diplomacy
•
2. In the media age, the United States was
determined to fight media with media
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
As Joseph Nye observed, “the world’s leading
communications country has proven surprisingly
maladroit” in conveying its message
•
Nye argued that US soft power has been declining,
because many of its crucial resources are outside
the control of governments, and their effects
depend heavily on acceptance by the receiving
audiences
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Realist, unilateralist, short-term state-centered paradigm
•
The exercise of soft power in the “Age of Al-Jazeera,” when the US
government is no longer the sole player in the arena of public
diplomacy, has become increasingly difficult
•
During the US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq the real focus of
public diplomacy was to shape public opinion in the Arab and Islamic
world, rather than to focus on the military interventions themselves
•
Al-Jazeera turned out to be a major focus of US public diplomacy
efforts, because it carried reports and commentaries that helped
helpful to communicate American arguments and views
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Radio: Radio Sawa
•
On March 23, 2002, the US Broadcasting Board of
Governors, the advisory group that oversees media programs,
launched Radio Sawa, which means “together” in Arabic
•
Radio Sawa is a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week service with
48 daily newscasts in Arabic being transmitted by various
means
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Radio: Radio Sawa
•
Radio Sawa airs news, analysis, editorial comment, talk and
music
•
It not only delivers a mix of news bulletins and popular music,
but provides an ideal access to American opinion
•
It mostly plays music for young people, which makes its
content is heavy on pop music and light on news
•
Radio Sawa’s motto is “you listen to us; we listen to you.”
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Radio: Radio Sawa
•
Radio Sawa targets young Arabs under 30, who constitute
more than 50 percent of the population in the Arab world
•
Other sources reported that Radio Sawa has little penetration
in the Arab world
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Satellite Television: Al-Hurra
•
On February 14, 2004, the United States launched
a new $62 million Arabic-language satellite
television channel, Al-Hurra, which means in Arabic
“the free one,” to deliver US messages in Arabic
across the Arab world
•
The decision to launch Al-Hurra was seen by many
in America and in the Arab world as one of the
clearest examples of the strategy to combat and
counter competing messages from Arab news
organizations such as Al-Jazeera
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Satellite Television: Al-Hurra
•
According to Jon Alterman, Director of the Middle East
Program at the Center for Strategic International Studies
(CSIS), a Washington think tank,
•
Al-Hurra cannot serve the needs of American public
diplomacy, partly because governments generally do not
produce good television
•
And partly because of questions about journalistic
independence and the potential for propaganda
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
Idealist, multilateralist, long-term civil-society centered
paradigm
•
Much contemporary research on international communication is
taking place in the field of public diplomacy, including its nature and
strategies
•
Germany has developed and used a new concept of public
diplomacy, based on what we call “diplomacy of dialogue.”
•
Therefore, Germany is a good example of those countries with
limited public diplomacy resources that used soft power very adeptly
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
The German diplomacy of dialogue is consistent with Nye’s
third type of public diplomacy
•
Germany accomplishes a great deal of its public diplomacy
through a range of instruments such as international
broadcasting, cultural activities, educational exchanges and
scholarships, programmed visits and conferences
•
In 1998, the Red–Green (Social Democratic Party–Green
Party) coalition government redefined German foreign policy
in a manner consistent with ideological orientations
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
Since the reunification, Germany has witnessed a growing
debate on the presumed role of the “dialogue of cultures” in
reducing and easing political tensions between Europe and
the Islamic world
•
Germany is keen on what senior officials call “fair and
balanced communication and interaction between the two
sides, which can energize and enhance the type of
understanding that allows for peace and cooperation”
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
After the end of the Cold War and the peaceful reunification of
Germany in 1989-90, German interest in the role of public
diplomacy increased and the diplomacy of dialogue has
become a constant pillar of German foreign policy with the
Arab and Islamic world
•
The style and substance of the German diplomacy of dialogue
grows out of Germany’s political culture, including its modern
history
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
For many years now, dialogue with the Muslim world has formed a
fixed component of German foreign cultural and educational policy
•
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Germans rediscovered the
importance of dialogue with the Arab and Islamic world
•
A content analysis of Fischer’s speech at the United Nations on
September 12, 2001, indicated the continuity of interest in public
diplomacy and dialogue with the Arab and Islamic world
•
The tenor of Fischer’s speech was in keeping with the idealist and
“integrationalist” traditions of German foreign policy since the
Second World War
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
The dialogue was intended to serve as a long-term strategy to
campaign against international terrorism and as a means of pursuing
foreign policy, particularly with the Arab and the Islamic world
•
In 2002, for instance, the post of Commissioner for the Dialogue with
Islam/Dialogue among Civilizations was created at the Federal
Foreign Office and was directed by former ambassador Dr. Gunther
Mulack
•
Germany has taken more proactive measures to build a long-term
understanding of Arab and Islamic societies, cultures and ideas, and
to intensify the “cultural and educational exchange programs.”
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
The dialogue was intended to serve as a long-term strategy to
campaign against international terrorism and as a means of pursuing
foreign policy, particularly with the Arab and the Islamic world
•
In 2002, for instance, the post of Commissioner for the Dialogue with
Islam/Dialogue among Civilizations was created at the Federal
Foreign Office and was directed by former ambassador Dr. Gunther
Mulack
•
Germany has taken more proactive measures to build a long-term
understanding of Arab and Islamic societies, cultures and ideas, and
to intensify the “cultural and educational exchange programs.”
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
In contrast to conventional forms of diplomacy that
focus only on dialogue between governments, the
German diplomacy of dialogue aims at
communicating with non-state civil society actors:



•
NGOs
The media
The general public
to promote greater understanding
Germany and the Arab and Islamic world
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
According to Rainer Schlageter, the general
director of communication at the Federal Foreign
Office, public diplomacy is
» “the sum of all communications
activities directed towards a selected
elite, contact organizations, and the
broader public worldwide”
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
With its international reputation and experience with civil
society groups, Germany has positioned itself to strengthen
multilateral international institutions as well as to cooperate
with international organizations
•
The target of the German diplomacy of dialogue is to build
long-term relationships that create an enabling environment
for dialogue between cultures
•
This is designed to build goodwill between Germany and the
countries of the Islamic world over time
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
The development of a cultural public diplomacy intended to
build a long-term relationship based on educational
exchanges has become an objective of German foreign policy
•
According to Fischer, foreign cultural and educational policies
should be integrated into the formulation of German foreign
politics
•
All programs involved in cultural public diplomacy such as
student exchanges and language training have played a role
in enhancing better understanding between people in different
cultural contexts
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
Increasing scholarly exchange programs have
given German culture more visibility at Arab
universities and libraries
•
The aim of cultural public diplomacy is not to
influence those same people to accept its values
but to gain a long-term, cumulative effect
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
Increasing scholarly exchange programs have
given German culture more visibility at Arab
universities and libraries
•
The aim of cultural public diplomacy is not to
influence those same people to accept its values
but to gain a long-term, cumulative effect
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
While the US approach to public diplomacy appears rather
competitive, unilateralist and realist, the German diplomacy of
dialogue appears more cooperative, multilateralist and idealist
•
US public diplomacy is heavy on film-type image and light on
message
•
The Germans focus more on relationship-building strategies by
developing reciprocal connections between people and civil society
•
While US public diplomacy appears to have its share of problems in
the Arab and Islamic world, German diplomacy of dialogue enjoys a
reasonable degree of soft power
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
By adopting this strategic and long term approach
to public diplomacy based on relationship-building,
Germany is developing a reputation for its
diplomacy of dialogue
•
Should other European and Asian countries follow
and promote the diplomacy of dialogue in the name
of international cooperation and understanding,
they would reduce the risk of creating an
environment in which public diplomacy might
become hegemonic
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German Diplomacy of Dialogue
•
It is worth bearing in mind that the notion of “soft
power” was elaborated in a context of international
competition
•
It would not be an exaggeration, if US public diplomacy
was described as a hard “soft power.”
•
The question that arises is whether the critical
assessment of current US public diplomacy by American
scholars will result in a shift towards the diplomacy of
dialogue
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Table 2: Comparative Campaign Characteristics:
United States and Germany
Characteristics
United States
Germany
Type
Public Diplomacy
Diplomacy of dialogue
Philosophy
Realist
Idealist
Approach
Unilateralist
Multilateralist
Objective
Win/lose
Win/win
Nature
competitive
cooperative
Orientation
State-centered
Civil-society centered
Means
Media relations
Cultural programs
Emphasis
Image
Message
Intensity grade
Intensive
Extensive
Term
Short-term
Long-term
Institution
Under-Secretary
for
Commission
for
the
Public Diplomacy and
Dialogue
with
Public Affairs
Islam/Dialogue among
Civilizations
Style
of
Leadership
1.
Advertising
Executive
1. Former Diplomat
2. Former Diplomat
2. Former diplomat &
Acting Executive
3.
Former
Entrepreneur
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