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Public diplomacy: Seven lessons for its future from its past

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Abstract

This article examines the history of public diplomacy and identifies seven lessons from that history. These are: (1) public diplomacy begins with listening; (2) public diplomacy must be connected to policy; (3) public diplomacy is not a performance for domestic consumption; (4) effective public diplomacy requires credibility, but this has implications for the bureaucratic structure around the activity; (5) sometimes the most credible voice in public diplomacy is not one's own; (6) public diplomacy is not ‘always about you’; and (7) public diplomacy is everyone's business. The article considers the relevance of these lessons for ‘the new public diplomacy’, which have emerged over the last decade. Cull concludes that this new public diplomacy era has opened up fresh possibilities, but has not erased the relevance of the history of public diplomacy. On the contrary, the lessons of the past seem even more relevant in an age in which communications play an unprecedented role.

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Notes

  1. For an account of Gullion and the origins of the term see Cull (2008a).

  2. This taxonomy is explored in Cull (2008b), in a special issue: Public Diplomacy in a Changing World, co-edited with Geoffrey Cowan.

  3. The conclusion to Cull (2008c) also identifies seven lessons from the history of US public diplomacy many of which are US specific. The international scope of this publication has enabled more general observations and a wider set of lessons.

  4. The classic exposition of this case is Dudziak (2000).

  5. Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu) XVI, I, (434).

  6. For a detailed history see Heil (2003).

  7. This case is explored in Cull, The Cold War and the United States Information Agency.

  8. For a case study of recent use of Scottish voices see Cull (2008d).

  9. For a detailed study see Mayne (2003).

  10. Lord Carter of Coles was asked by the Foreign Secretary and Chief Secretary to the Treasury to conduct ‘an independent review of public diplomacy’ and examine the effectiveness of current public diplomacy activities. His Public diplomacy review was completed in December 2005.

  11. See Krotz (2002), also Vion (2002).

  12. The key exploration of this idea is Melissen (2005).

  13. On the credibility of ‘people like me’, as indicated by the Edelman trust barometer survey see http://www.edelman.com/news/ShowOne.asp?ID=102.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USC Annenberg School, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles, 90089, CA, USA

    Nicholas J Cull

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  1. Nicholas J Cull
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Correspondence to Nicholas J Cull.

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Cull, N. Public diplomacy: Seven lessons for its future from its past. Place Brand Public Dipl 6, 11–17 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2010.4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2010.4

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