Public diplomacy

In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is the communication with and dissemination of propaganda to foreign public to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence. There is no one definition of public diplomacy, and it may be easier to describe than to define it, as definitions vary and continue to change over time. It is practiced through a variety of instruments and methods ranging from personal contact and media interviews to the Internet and educational exchanges.

In his essay "'Public Diplomacy' Before Gullion: The Evolution of a Phrase", Nicholas J. Cull of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy wrote that "The earliest use of the phrase 'public diplomacy' to surface is actually not American at all but in a leader piece from the London Times in January 1856. It is used merely as a synonym for civility in a piece criticizing the posturing of President Franklin Pierce." Cull writes that Edmund Gullion, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a distinguished retired foreign service officer, "was the first to use the phrase in its modern meaning". In 1965, Gullion founded the Edward R. Murrow Center of Public Diplomacy, and Cull writes that "An early Murrow Center brochure provided a convenient summary of Gullion's concept":

Public diplomacy... deals with the influence 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 on policy; communication between those whose job is communication, as diplomats and foreign correspondents; and the process of intercultural communications.

Over time, the concept and definition has evolved by various practitioners. Other definitions and descriptions include:

The most important roles public diplomacy will have to play for the United States in the current international environment will be less grand-strategic and more operational than during the Cold War. Support of national policy in military contingencies is one such role, and probably the most important.
— Carnes Lord (former Deputy Director USIA), Professor of Statecraft and Civilization, October 1998

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