Philip Seib

Conclusion: The Task for Policy Makers

The premise of this book is that American public diplomacy needs a thoughtful and very thorough overhaul. Mere fine-tuning will not fix it. Many U.S. public diplomacy efforts in recent years have been naþve, archaic, and largely ineffective. These problems will persist unless the new administration’s policy makers are willing to acknowledge past difficulties and let imagination supersede tradition.

Public Diplomacy and Journalism Parallels, Ethical Issues, and Practical Concerns

The author argues that standards of objectivity and accuracy employed by journalists should also be held by practitioners of public diplomacy. The perceived commonality with propaganda makes public diplomacy vulnerable to challenge about its being an ethical enterprise. Examples of U.S. public diplomacy efforts in Iraq and in Arab-speaking countries more generally are discussed, including the development of television channels. It is argued that public diplomacy, like journalism, must be conducted ethically or else it will certainly fail.

Introduction: Why Turkey’s Public Diplomacy Matters

As the global world order continues its evolution, we are witnessing the ascendance of middle powers such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China, South Africa) and the MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey). This book has been written at a time when the broader Middle East has yet to resolve its internal issues, stabilize regional security, and sustain democratic principles. The Syrian civil war, political turmoil in Egypt, and the ongoing tension between Iran and the Western powers pose many questions for the future of the region in terms of security, democracy, economic stability, and broader regional influence.

The Promise of Networks

The success of the Arab uprisings in 2011 was due in part to the ability to connect. Those who participated in one way or another could keep abreast of what was happening not only from conventional information sources but also from people plugged into social networks of various kinds.

The Political Revolution

On August 2, 2011, these were the headlines on the Al Jazeera English website: “Mubarak on Trial” “The Battle for Libya” “Syria Uprising” “Yemen Unrest”

The Expeditionary Diplomat and the Case For Public Diplomacy

In his 1939 classic, Diplomacy, Sir Harold Nicolson wrote, “In the days of the old diplomacy it would have been regarded as an act of unthinkable vulgarity to appeal to the common people upon any issue of international policy.” Nicolson lamented technological advances such as “the invention of the wireless,” which gave “a vast impetus to propaganda as a method of policy” and allowed manipulators such as Adolf Hitler to wield “a formidable weapon of popular excitation.”1

The Arrival of Rapid-Reaction Diplomacy

If allowed to do so, passion will influence policy. Rarely, if ever, is that wise. Passion has a way of reshaping truth to serve its purposes, creating traps for those who govern.

Traditional Diplomacy and the Cushion of Time

Events have always moved quickly, but until recently information about these events arrived more slowly. Governments usually first found out what was happening from their own suppliers of information—diplomats, the military, intelligence agencies, and other proprietary sources. The public depended on the news media, which often had to transmit information through mechanisms slower and less reliable than those available to governments.

The Din of Many Voices

Although the United States proved in Iraq that it retains absolute dominance in military power, this war marked an end to the near-monopoly in global news that American and other Western media had long enjoyed. New voices emerged, competing for audiences throughout the world by offering news shaped by varied interests and perspectives.