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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 8, March 27-April 09, 2009

The Zeitgeist of Public Diplomacy

John Brown suggests in the Huffington Post that public diplomacy was used as a panacea for the shortcomings of US policies under the Bush administration. As the State Department and the new administration move away from this stance, struggling to redefine its role and purpose, an emphasis is being put on the quality of policy. So far, the State Department's role is defined as "engaging, informing, and influencing key international audiences."

Brown notes that public diplomacy has not been given the same priority and importance under the Obama administration. Bush-era public diplomacy underwent various transformations from "branding" during the tenure of Under Secretary Charlotte Beers, to public relations under Karen Huges, and finally the "war of ideas" under James Glassman.

"During the past few years, public diplomacy was taken oh-so-solemnly by the American political elite and chattering classes," who aimed at, "selling disastrous, unpopular policies under the previous president" to publics at home and abroad.

Although public diplomacy has been approached in a less sanctimonious way under Obama, notes Brown, the US president provides an opening to restore one of public diplomacy's "greatest qualities" by properly engaging with people. Obama also realizes public diplomacy is not to be a substitute for sound policies.

Yet, some argue that several faux pas could have been avoided if public diplomacy had been granted a proper place. "Consider the flap over the DVD set Obama presented to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a 'gift' or the 'reset' button Secretary Clinton offered to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov," says Brown. He continues to point out that this is the sort of cultural "insensitivity" on which public diplomacy supposedly focuses.

Brown adds, "Public diplomacy can help avoid embarrassing, damaging situations for the US abroad by being tuned in to local mores." And while it does not yield miracles, its own successes are based on acknowledging how much "engaging, informing and influencing key international audiences," can achieve.

Matt Armstrong argues on his blog Mountain Runner that public diplomacy is not likely to play an important role in the Obama administration. The remaining vacant position of Under Secretary is a clear indication of how inconsequential it may now be. "Is it that Clinton (and possibly Obama) does not know where to take public diplomacy and whether an empowered National Security Council is the route to go?" he wonders.

Armstrong believes that while the priority is low, public diplomacy will eventually come back on the agenda. He adds that the issue at stake is deciding who will be leading US global engagement that spans the whole of government.

Armstrong further implies that the State Department could lose considerable ground to the Defense Department "who will be the only vertically integrated element of the Government that can provide the services necessary in a world of state and non-state actors."

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