Public Diplomacy- Discussions of seminar 5/7

Following the seminar discussion of week 5/7 we note Hans Morgenthau dismissing New Diplomacy naming it Public Diplomacy. In my opinion, Public Diplomacy is very important as we see that is directly link (for example) from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office directly to diplomatic missions overseas. This is is not relatively new, it can be traced since the Ancient Greece were head of missions did not engaged in secret negotiation, they openly negotiated policies in public.

Today Public Diplomacy, continues to be used by diplomats as a way of communication to gain direct foreign investment to their state, to promote tourism of their country as it is a source of income and finally is used to address or influence the public of other states on issues such as the promotion of exports or foreign investment in the state where they are officially accredited. According to Berridge, it can also be used as 'propaganda' by government coercively in order to mislead the individuals. Technically, this can also be used as a form of subversion, for instance in embassies within the diplomatic corps there are spies who are sent to create disorder, create unrest in the state which they are accredited, in the long term this can lead to regime change or even a dangerous military coup. We have seen this in 1973 when the United States government were implicated in the when Augusto Pinochet became president while former president was removed and murdered.

Public diplomacy can be used in terms of promoting the values and culture of other state whereas in some situation we have seen the British Council coming under-fire for apparently being accused of using their organization as a form of 'subversion' to create democracy. This has happen in East Europe and the Middle East. In terms of political issues it has also been the key to solve crises hence we note a link between the government and the public. In conflict ridden states in the Middle East diplomats strive to influence the activities and opinions of the public overseas to try and influence their government to be democratic, this remains to be seen. Nevertheless, since we live in a globalized world todays non-state actors from Non-Governmental-Organizations (NGO's) have an important role to address and influence on issues such as human rights and poverty in troubled states.

In multilateral organizations such the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) we note the engagement and dialogue between officials representing their state. However even in multilateral institutions there is still the need for secrecy, we see 'corridor' or 'hallway' diplomacy in the EU and UN where negotiations are takes places behind close doors and members of the public are excluded.