Lessons from the Past - USC Center on Public Diplomacy
Lessons from the Past - USC Center on Public Diplomacy
Lessons from the Past - USC Center on Public Diplomacy
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>Less<strong>on</strong>s</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>from</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Past</str<strong>on</strong>g> 23<br />
years). Similarly, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> BBC’s external services were fed material by<br />
a PW arm of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Foreign Office and Secret Intelligence Service: <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Informati<strong>on</strong> Research Department (IRD). PW was <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> dominant<br />
approach in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Soviet approach to internati<strong>on</strong>al informati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
At this point <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> reader may ask <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> difference between <strong>Public</strong><br />
<strong>Diplomacy</strong> and propaganda. This is a reas<strong>on</strong>able questi<strong>on</strong> but <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
answer turns <strong>on</strong> what exactly is meant by ‘propaganda.’ In <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
morally charged sense in which propaganda is to informati<strong>on</strong> as<br />
murder is to killing, PD clearly may become propaganda if used for<br />
an immoral purpose. In <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> morally neutral sense in which propaganda<br />
is simply mass persuasi<strong>on</strong>, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is an obvious overlap. This overlap<br />
is diminishing, as propaganda seldom emphasizes <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> two-way<br />
street/mutuality which has been part of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> most sophisticated public<br />
diplomacy policies or <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> relati<strong>on</strong>al and network ideas which are so<br />
central to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> New <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Diplomacy</strong>. 11<br />
While, as has been noted al<strong>on</strong>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> way, various states have<br />
emphasized a particular element of PD in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir approach, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ideal<br />
structure would balance all and allow each <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> space and funding<br />
to make its own necessary c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> whole. One of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
regrettable features of public diplomacy around <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> world is that this<br />
is seldom <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> case and that ra<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r than competing with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> organs<br />
of hard power for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir share of funding, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> agencies of soft power<br />
and public diplomacy have fought each o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r for funds and for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
dominance of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir outlook.
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