Lessons from the Past - USC Center on Public Diplomacy

7. Conclusion: The Future of Public Diplomacy
<strong>Lessons</strong> <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Past</strong> 57
The foregoing analysis confirms <strong>the</strong> enduring significance of
public diplomacy in international relations and <strong>the</strong> essential wisdom
of <strong>the</strong> disaggregated British structure. It has separated <strong>the</strong> elements
into a basic taxonomy of equally significant functions, but argued that
<strong>the</strong> historically neglected listening function does deserve a special
status as <strong>the</strong> starting point for public diplomacy. It has highlighted
some of <strong>the</strong> present trends in technology and <strong>the</strong> international
environment in which PD must work, and shown how <strong>the</strong> past can
illuminate <strong>the</strong> road for those navigating this new world. The rise
of <strong>the</strong> network society creates more opportunities than it closes for
PD, especially if <strong>the</strong> public diplomat is mindful of <strong>the</strong> limitations of
his or her craft and <strong>the</strong> necessity for thinking in terms of building
relationships. These relationships, which transmit <strong>the</strong> ideas thought
necessary for policy, must also carry back responses necessary to
adjust that policy and steer towards a shared future.
This report has merely touched on <strong>the</strong> reserve of accumulated
wisdom and experience locked in <strong>the</strong> past experience of PD. The field
presently lacks a basic compendium of successful and unsuccessful
cases which could be used as a ‘Public Diplomacy Playbook’ by its
practitioners. Compiling such a work would be a straightforward task
for <strong>the</strong> FCO and international partners to accomplish in conjunction
with a willing academic institution. Sharing this accumulated
experience would be an effective way of empowering those target
countries whose PD voices could enhance <strong>the</strong> global conversation.