Public Diplomacy as Discourses of Engagement: The Role of Non-State Actors

• In Event: Engagement as a Conceptual Framework for Public Relations: Advancing Conceptual and Theoretical Steps

Abstract

This paper explores further the proposed conceptualization of public diplomacy as constructed discourses of engagement: a dynamic dialogic process and, at the same time, an outcome of the interactions and negotiations between state and non-state actors, with different power positions and agendas, who compete and influence each other, yet contribute to the co-construction of a public sphere. It reflects on the dialectic relationship between state and non-state actors in public diplomacy starting from the following somehow contradictory facts: (1) in public diplomacy literature, public diplomacy has always a foreign policy component and is linked to the diplomacy of the state; therefore, non-state diplomacy or corporate diplomacy are heavily contested; (2) in practice, the partnership of various state and non-state actors in public diplomacy campaigns is a reality occurring around the globe (e.g. pavilions at World Expos); (3) in the “Why don’t you come over campaign”, a Romanian communication group and a newspaper tackle a foreign policy issue (the UK-Romanian relations after the liberalization of the EU labour market in 2015), in response to an alleged UK government campaign to discourage potential immigrants (“Don’t come to Britain. It’s full”). The following questions are thus explored: Is the engagement of a non-state actor in a public diplomacy issue an action of a socially responsible actor that uses its know-how to gain visibility for the issue and pressure the foreign government? Or is an action of an actor that manipulates a favourable context? And thus instrumentalizes a highly sensitive topic within a society on matters of national identity and self-representations in order to obtain commercial benefits (e.g. increased readership) and awards for creativity? What are the implications and the limits of both perspectives?

Author

• Alina Elena Dolea, Bournemouth University