Analysis Of U.S. Public Diplomacy

Public diplomacy refers to the government of a nation practicing diplomacy withthe citizens in other countries. It receives special attention by the United States. U.S.public diplomacy aims to increase the popularity of the United States abroad andpromote its national interests through engaging, informing and influencing foreignpublic by the medium of information activities, cultural and educational exchangesand international broadcasting.After the Second World War, public diplomacy has become a crucial componentof American foreign policy and national security. It gained prominence during theCold War but gradually lost its conspicuous position as the United States became thesole superpower in the world. The 9/11 terrorist attacks ignited America's new interestin public diplomacy. The U.S. government discovered that the country suffered from apoor image on the global stage, especially in the Arab and Muslim world. Therefore,the Bush administration took public diplomacy as an effective weapon to repair theU.S. image abroad and wage a war of ideas to win the minds and hearts of Arabs andMuslims through creating new radio stations, increasing exchanges and launching TVadvertising campaign, etc..The 21st century sees a stronger trend towards globalization. The acceleratedcirculation of ideas and information thanks to the modern communication technologyenlarges non-state actors and common people's influence in political arena. Softpower becomes increasingly important. This new international landscape created bythese changes provides ample space and an unprecedented opportunity for U.S. publicdiplomacy to develop. However, there are quite a few problems in conducting U.S.public diplomacy and utilizing its resources. The U.S. foreign policy in the MiddleEast is the fundamental reason hindering the progress of public diplomacy in the Araband Muslim world. To be effective, U.S. public diplomacy still has a long way to go toaddress these challenges.