In international relations, the term public diplomacy is a term coined in the 1960s to describe aspects of international diplomacy other than the interactions between national governments. It has been closely associated with the United States Information Agency, which used the term to define its mission. It was originally a euphemism for purportedly truthful propaganda. International relations (IR), a branch of political science, is the study of foreign affairs of and relations among states within the international system, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). ... The United States Information Agency (USIA), which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to what it called public diplomacy. ... An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people, rather than impartially providing information. ...

Standard diplomacy might be described as the ways in which government leaders communicate with each other at the highest levels, the elite diplomacy we are all familiar with. Public diplomacy, by contrast - according to the definition at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy - focuses on the ways in which a country (or multi-lateral organization such as the United Nations) communicates with citizens in other societies. A country may be acting deliberately or inadvertently, and through both official and private individuals and institutions. Effective public diplomacy starts from the premise that dialogue, rather than a sales pitch, is often central to achieving the goals of foreign policy: public diplomacy must be seen as a two-way street. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Film, television, music, sports, video games and other social/cultural activities are seen by public diplomacy advocates as enormously important avenues for otherwise diverse citizens to understand each other and integral to the international cultural understanding, which they state is a key goal of modern public diplomacy strategy. It involves not only shaping the message(s) that a country wishes to present abroad, but also analyzing and understanding the ways that the message is interpreted by diverse societies and developing the tools of listening and conversation as well as the tools of persuasion.

One of the most successful initiatives which embodies the principles of effective public diplomacy is the creation by international treaty in the 1950s of the European Coal and Steel Community which later became the European Union. Its original purpose after World War II was to tie the economies of Europe together so much that war would be impossible. Supporters of European integration see it as having achieved both this goal and the extra benefit of catalysing greater international understanding as European countries did more business together and the ties among member states' citizens increased. Opponents of European integration are leery of a loss of national sovereignty and greater centralization of power. The 1950s was the decade spanning from the 1st of January, 1950 to the 31st December, 1959. ... Members of the European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in 1951 (Treaty of Paris), by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to pool the steel and coal resources of its member-states. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e. ...

Public diplomacy as beyond propaganda

After the dissolution of the USIA in 1999, the term has continued to be used within the US government, especially the US Department of State. It has been used most often as the foreign policy equivalent of the term public relations, but embodies a much broader frame than this. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Public relations (PR) is the art of managing communication between an organisation and its key publics to build, manage and sustain a positive image. ...

Aside from the use of media like the Voice of America, it also includes other kinds of interaction with the public in other countries. Arranging student exchange programs, hosting seminars, and meeting with foreign business and academic leaders are all considered public diplomacy. Indirect public diplomacy includes the everyday activities of citizens internationally, such as everyday cultural activities and products such as films, tourism, theatre, and internet discussion. The Voice of America (VOA) is the official international broadcasting service of the Government of the United States. ...

The term public diplomacy clearly originated as a euphemism for propaganda. However, this definition is a somewhat old-school definition, as more sensitive practitioners embody an intercultural, 'learning' approach to public diplomacy, with an emphasis on dialogue rather than propaganda. An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people, rather than impartially providing information. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ...

A history of the term "public diplomacy"

Nicholas J. Cull of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, writes in his essay "'Public Diplomacy' Before Gullion: The Evolution of a Phrase: Professor Cull is the director of the Masters in Public Diplomacy program at the University of Southern California. ... The University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy is a joint academic research, teaching and training center created and run jointly by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences School of International Relations. ...

The earliest use of the phrase "public diplomacy" to surface is actually not American at all but in a leader piece from The Times in January 1856. It is used merely as a synonym for civility in a piece criticizing the posturing of President Franklin Pierce. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... Franklin Pierce, Sr. ...

According to publicdiplomacy.org, a website sponsored by the USIA Alumni Association,

The term public diplomacy was first used in 1965 by Edmund Gullion, a career diplomat, in connection with the foundation of the Edward R. Murrow Center at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Edward R. Murrow, U.S. newscaster, pioneer in broadcast journalism Edward R. Ed Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow), (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American journalist. ... Tufts University is a private university located in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. ...

The Murrow Center brochure described public diplomacy as:

the influence of public attitudes on the formation and execution of foreign policies. It encompasses dimensions of international relations beyond traditional diplomacy . . . [including] the cultivation by governments of public opinion in other countries; the interaction of private groups and interests in one country with those of another . . . (and) the transnational flow of information and ideas.

While Gullion and the Murrow Center were the first to use the term public diplomacy, their definition remains contested and controversial. Today, there is no one definition of public diplomacy, there are many definitions (links to other definitions).

The dictionary definition of the word propaganda is "The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause." Notice that the definition says nothing about whether the material is or is not true; the essence of propaganda is that it is distributed with the intention of supporting a cause. The word literally means "that which ought to be propagated" and originated in the Catholic Church to describe the church agency responsible for evangelising. See the article on propaganda for more detail. An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people, rather than impartially providing information. ...

In the United States, however, the word "propaganda" carried and carries the connotation of falsehood. The USIA has always maintained that its agencies, such as the Voice of America, are truthful. In a famous remark, Edward R. Murrow, then director of the USIA, said: The Voice of America (VOA) is the official international broadcasting service of the Government of the United States. ... Edward R. Murrow, U.S. newscaster, pioneer in broadcast journalism Edward R. Ed Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow), (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American journalist. ...

Truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.

Nevertheless the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 still prevents the distribution within the United States of official American information which was intended for foreign audiences, for example exempting Voice of America from releasing transcripts in response to FOIA requests. The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was a piece of federal legislation in the United States. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Voice of America (VOA) is the official international broadcasting service of the Government of the United States. ... The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United States. ...

Broadly speaking, then, until recent times, the term public diplomacy has traditionally been used by those supporting it to mean truthful propaganda. But critics, such as the editors of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, have viewed it in more nefarious terms, as a form of "covert propaganda." [1] They also report that "the bipartisan report of the Congressional Iran-Contra committees (November 1987, p. 34) found that '[i]n fact, "public diplomacy" turned out to mean public relations-lobbying, all at taxpayers’ expense.'" The National Security Archive is an independent organization located within the George Washington University. ...   See Washington University (disambiguation) for institutions with similar names. ... In the Iran-Contra Affair, United States President Ronald Reagans administration secretly sold arms to Iran, which was engaged in a bloody war with its neighbor Iraq from 1980 to 1988 (see Iran-Iraq War), and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and...

References

• Fallows, James (2005) "Success without Victory," The Atlantic Monthly, 295:1 p. 80 (Evera quotation)

External links

• Example of term being used by President George W. Bush in relation to the Middle East - January 19, 2005 The Age

• Public Diplomacy Wiki maintained by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy

• Public Diplomacy Frappr GeoMap

• Public Diplomacy (USIAAA)

• Diplomacy Monitor Tracking Internet-based diplomacy