International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS

AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

PETER LANG

This book provides an important discussion of the conceptual and practical

interconnections between international public relations and public diplomacy.

Written by some of the leading thinkers in both disciplines, the volume provides

key lessons regarding global relationship-building and stakeholder engagement.

Written from a government, corporate, and not-for-profit perspective, the book

deals with such topics as mediated public diplomacy and information subsidies,

international broadcasting, nation-branding, diaspora relationships, international

exchanges, and soft power. A variety of international conceptual pieces and

real-life case studies present an in-depth analysis of the strategic application

of public relations tactics in governmental and organizational global relationship

management efforts. The book is recommended for students, scholars, and

practitioners in the fields of international public relations, public diplomacy, and

international relations.

GUY J. GOLAN (Ph.D., University of Florida) is an associate professor at the S.I.

Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

SUNG-UN YANG (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is an associate professor and

Director of Research and Grants in the School of Journalism at Indiana University.

DENNIS F. KINSEY (Ph.D., Stanford University) is a full professor at the S.I.

Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

www.peterlang.com

GOLAN, YANG, KINSEY, EDITORS

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS

AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

PETER LANG

This book provides an important discussion of the conceptual and practical

interconnections between international public relations and public diplomacy.

Written by some of the leading thinkers in both disciplines, the volume provides

key lessons regarding global relationship-building and stakeholder engagement.

Written from a government, corporate, and not-for-profit perspective, the book

deals with such topics as mediated public diplomacy and information subsidies,

international broadcasting, nation-branding, diaspora relationships, international

exchanges, and soft power. A variety of international conceptual pieces and

real-life case studies present an in-depth analysis of the strategic application

of public relations tactics in governmental and organizational global relationship

management efforts. The book is recommended for students, scholars, and

practitioners in the fields of international public relations, public diplomacy, and

international relations.

GUY J. GOLAN (Ph.D., University of Florida) is an associate professor at the S.I.

Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

SUNG-UN YANG (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is an associate professor and

Director of Research and Grants in the School of Journalism at Indiana University.

DENNIS F. KINSEY (Ph.D., Stanford University) is a full professor at the S.I.

Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

www.peterlang.com

GOLAN, YANG, KINSEY, EDITORS

INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC RELATIONS

AND

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

This book is part of the Peter Lang Media and Communication list.

Every volume is peer reviewed and meets

the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG

New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin

Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw

INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC RELATIONS

AND

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

communication and engagement

guy j. golan,

sung-un yang,

dennis f. kinsey,

editors

PETER LANG

New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin

Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

International public relations and public diplomacy: communication and engagement /

edited by Guy J. Golan, Sung-Un Yang, Dennis F. Kinsey.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Public relations and politics. 2. Diplomacy. 3. International relations.

I. Golan, Guy J. II. Yang, Sung-un. III. Kinsey, Dennis F.

JF1525.P8I57 327.1’1—dc23 2014031261

ISBN 978-1-4331-2688-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4331-2687-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4539-1432-8 (e-book)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche

Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available

on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability

of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity

of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York

29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006

www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.

Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,

xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

1. Introduction: The Integrated Public Diplomacy Perspective 1

Guy J. Golan & Sung-Un Yang

Foundations

2. U.S. Public Diplomacy Since 9–11: The Challenges of Integration 15

Michael D. Schneider

3. Public Diplomacy in NGOs 37

Olga Zatepilina-Monacell

4. The Evolving Links Between International Public

Relations and Corporate Diplomacy 51

Sarabdeep K. Kochhar & Juan-Carlos Molleda

5. Public Diplomacy and Public Relations:

Will the Twain Ever Meet? 73

Nancy Snow

The Functions of International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy

6. Application of Relationship Management to

Public Diplomacy 93

Eyun-Jung Ki

7. Application of Issues and Crisis Management to

Public Diplomacy 109

Jangyul Robert Kim

vi Contents

8. Diplomacy in a Globalized World: Focusing Internally

to Build Relationships Externally 131

Kelly Vibber & Jeong-Nam Kim

9. Stewardship and the Political Process: Improving the Political

Party-Constituent Relationship Through Public Relations 147

Kristi S. Gilmore & Richard D. Waters

10. Ethical Visions for Public Diplomacy as International

Public Relations 167

Hua Jiang

Nation Brands and Country Reputation

11. Public Diplomacy and Competitive Identity:

Where’s the Link? 189

Simon Anholt

12. Repairing the “Made-in-China” Image in the U.S. and U.K.:

Effects of Government-supported Advertising 209

Kineta Hung

13. Taking It to the Streets: The Evolving Use of VNRs as a

Public Diplomacy Tool in the Digital Age 229

Colleen Connolly-Ahern & Lian Ma

14. Conceptualizing International Broadcasting as

Information Intervention 245

Shawn Powers & Tal Samuel-Azran

Engaging Domestic and Foreign Publics

15. Contextual Meaning 267

Bruce W. Dayton & Dennis F. Kinsey

16. The Importance of Diaspora Communities as Key

Publics for National Governments Around the World 279

Vanessa Bravo

17. Soft Power, NGOs and Virtual Communication Networks:

New Strategies and Directions for Public Diplomacy 297

Aimei Yang

18. Live Tweeting at Work: The Use of Social Media

in Public Diplomacy 315

Juyan Zhang & Shahira Fahmy

Contents vii

Global Issues & Challenges

19. The Public Relations of Populism: An International

Perspective of Public Diplomacy Trends 333

Jiska Englebert & Jacob Groshek

20. Presidents, Approval Ratings, and Standing:

Assessing Leaders’ Reputations 349

Margaret G. Hermann

21. A Contextualized Interpretation of PD Evaluation 363

James Pamment

22. Tenets of Diversity: Building a Strategy for Social

Justice in Public Diplomacy 379

Brenda Wrigley

23. Public Diplomacy, Public Relations, and the Middle East:

A Culture-Centered Approach to Power in Global Contexts 397

Mohan J. Dutta

Conclusion

24. An Integrated Approach to Public Diplomacy 417

Guy J. Golan

Contributors 441

Index 451

1. Introduction: The Integrated Public

Diplomacy Perspective

Guy J. Golan & Sung-Un Yang

Research on public diplomacy serves as the intellectual meeting point of var￾ious academic disciplines, including international public relations, mass com￾munication, international relations, strategic studies, and diplomatic studies

(Gilboa, 2008). Since Edmund Gullion, dean of the Fletcher School of Law

and Diplomacy at Tufts University, coined the term public diplomacy in 1965

(Cull, 2009), the field of public diplomacy has increasingly attracted attention

from international professionals and scholars alike. Despite the growing body

of scholarship on public diplomacy, there is still much confusion about what

the term actually means and how it differs from international public relations.

The current book aims to clear some of the confusion regarding the percep￾tual intersection between the two fields. Based on Golan (2013)’s integrated

public diplomacy model, our book aims to provide a comprehensive perspec￾tive on what often seems like a complex and multilayered area of scholarship

and practice.

Public relations is most commonly referred to as management of commu￾nication between an organization and its publics (e.g., J. E. Grunig & Hunt,

1984). To be more specific, public relations has been defined as “the manage￾ment function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships

between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure de￾pends” (Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 2000, p. 6). As such, international public

relations can be understood as the relationship management function in its

global sense.

In the past, communication scholars and researchers, especially those

studying international public relations, have tried to identify the conver￾gence between public relations and public diplomacy (e.g., Gilboa, 2008;

Manheim, 1994; Signitzer & Coombs, 1992; Signitzer & Wasmer, 2006;

2 Guy J. Golan & Sung-Un Yang

Wang & Chang, 2004). Among them, Signitzer and Wasmer (2006) viewed

public diplomacy as a specific governmental function of public relations, and

explained that a matrix of goals in public diplomacy can be intertwined with

those in public relations. Signitzer and Wasmer (2006) maintained that these

key objectives of public relations can be applied to communication manage￾ment between a sovereign nation and its strategic foreign publics in an inter￾national or diplomatic situation.

Public diplomacy essentially deals with the management of communica￾tion among diplomatic actors, including nations and non-state actors, which

have specific informational or motivational objectives toward reaching the

foreign publics through various channels of communication to promote na￾tional interest. Above all, in contemporary public diplomacy, the focus has

shifted from conventional diplomatic means and goals for promotion to re￾lationship cultivation with key foreign publics (e.g., Kruckeberg & Vujnovic,

2005; Snow, 2009).

The focus of earlier development within public diplomacy was on me￾dia diplomacy or political information for advocacy, including international

broadcasting: i.e., one-way transmission of information to foreign publics to

“influence the behavior of a foreign government by influencing the attitudes

of its citizens” (Malone, 1988, p. 3). In recent years, key changes in concep￾tualizing contemporary public diplomacy have shifted the focus to the roles

of non-state actors and the nature of their global relationships (Yun, 2012;

Yun & Toth, 2009) in their cultivation of substantial relationships or genu￾ine contact. Also, The New Public Diplomacy (Melissen, 2005) emphasizes

the relational role of non-state diplomatic actors, the inter-connectedness of

foreign/domestic publics on multiple layers, and the two-way engagement of

publics through the use of “soft power” (Nye, 2008) as the key leverage to

attract foreign publics.

Consequently, rather than a one-way transmission of information for

one-sided persuasion from a nation to foreign publics, contemporary public

diplomacy now emphasizes ways to establish and foster mutual understanding

and two-way exchanges of information on the basis of the soft power of a na￾tion. Examples of these changes are the emergence of cultural and education￾al exchange in terms of cultural diplomacy (e.g., Melissen, 2005; Schneider,

2003; Snow, 2008). Along the same line, Snow (2009) called for the need

for “rethinking public diplomacy” (pp. 3–11) in order to conceptualize a

relationship-centered public diplomacy, calling for the adoption of public re￾lations’ two-way symmetrical communication1

(J. E. Grunig, 2001) in public

diplomacy (p. 10).

Introduction 3

A key area of differentiation between international public relations and

public diplomacy can be identified in its ultimate goal. While international

public relations between any organization and foreign publics may focus on

mutual beneficial relationship for the sake of long term ends of consumerism

or philanthropy, public diplomacy’s ultimate aim is to gather international

support for a nation’s foreign policy.

Brand/Reputation Dimension

Relational Dimension

Mediated Public Diplomacy

Figure 1.1. The Integrated Public Diplomacy Model.

Introduction

International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy provides a collection of

chapters that integrate research on public diplomacy with research on pub￾lic relations. Unlike traditional public diplomacy research largely focused on

soft power programs such as educational or cultural exchanges, our volume

accepts the argument presented by many scholars for the/regarding the ap￾propriateness of studying public diplomacy from a public relations perspec￾tive (Fitzpatrick, 2007; Signitzer and Coombs, 1992; L’Etang, 2009). We

posit that public diplomacy should be examined as a strategic management

approach (Grunig and Repper, 1992) and therefore should apply key lessons

from public relations literature. This book includes chapters by scholars who

synthesize and argue for the suitability of such public relations functions as re￾lationship management (Ki), crisis communication (Kim), advocacy (Vibber

and Kim), stewardship (Gilmore and Waters) and campaign evaluation (Pam￾ment) to the field of public diplomacy. In addition, the chapters discuss how

governments (Schneider), corporations (Kochhar and Molleda) and NGOs

4 Guy J. Golan & Sung-Un Yang

(Zatepilina-Monacell; Yang) apply various public relations tactics to build and

maintain relationships with foreign publics.

When viewed holistically, the current book presents an integrated ap￾proach to public diplomacy scholarship (in this chapter, I will refer to this

approach as integrated public diplomacy) that combines both the short,

medium and long termed perspectives on public diplomacy. The relational

perspective focuses on the long term relationship management efforts of gov￾ernment, corporations and NGOs to build and maintain mutually beneficial

relationships with foreign publics. Such efforts traditionally focus on such soft

power programs as aid, development and exchange programs. The mediated

public diplomacy approach (Entman, 2008) is focused on government at￾tempts to shape and influence its framing in the global news media and, there￾fore, constitutes a short term perspective. As global governments compete to

shape international debate regarding global conflict and salient international

relations issues (Sheafer and Gabay, 2009; Sheafer and Shenhav, 2009), the

success or failure of mediated public diplomacy efforts can have direct con￾sequences regarding global public opinion (Manheim, 1994; Wanta, Golan,

Lee, 2004). Mediated public diplomacy is under-invested by scholars but is

likely to gain much attention from both scholars and public diplomacy prac￾titioners considering the powerful impact of such satellite broadcast channels

as Al Jazeera and Al Arabyia on political events around the world (Powers

and Samuel-Azran, in this book). Representing a more tactical approach that

is meant to produce long term results, government nation branding efforts

extend the attempt to link issues and attributes to nations through public

relations and marketing tactics (Wang, 2006; Kaneva, 2011; Rasmussen and

Merkelsen, 2012). However, it is these efforts that may ultimately shape long

term relational outcomes and therefore play an important element bridging

between the short term mediated public diplomacy and the longer term rela￾tional public diplomacy.

It is important to note that a full understanding of public diplomacy can￾not be attained through either the relational, nation branding or mediat￾ed perspectives alone. The long term success of relationship building and

stewardship is often contingent on the success or failure of organizations to

communicate their values, culture or policies to their target audiences. As

such only the integrated public diplomacy approach to public diplomacy (as

illustrated in Figure 1.1) can provide a meaningful understanding of the field

that can guide both academics and professionals.

The current chapter will outline the soft power approach as the theo￾retic framework of previous public diplomacy scholarship. Next, it will dis￾cuss the mediated public diplomacy approach and its centrality to the success

Introduction 5

of American public diplomacy efforts abroad. Finally, the chapter will argue

for the integrated public diplomacy concept and argue for a new approach

to the practice of public diplomacy that draws upon the political campaign

model as the most appropriate operational perspective for achieving both the

short, medium and long term public diplomacy outcomes.

In this introductory chapter, the authors will explain the convergence

between public diplomacy and public relations, followed by a brief overview

of two key public relations perspectives, relational public diplomacy and me￾diated public diplomacy.

Regarding the convergence between public diplomacy and public re￾lations, there have been at least two distinctive perspectives. One is the

view of public diplomacy as a field of relational public diplomacy, involving

key foreign publics by means of cultural exchange or other forms of public

engagement and utilizing two-way communication, which can bring out

mutual benefits between a nation and its publics (e.g., Yun, 2006, 2012;

Yun & Toth, 2009).

The other is the view of public diplomacy’s primary role in the context

of mediated public diplomacy (e.g., Entman, 2003; Sheafer & Gabay, 2009;

Sheafer & Shenhav, 2009) by which a nation attempts to strategically pro￾mote its agenda and frames, through strategically selected mass media efforts,

in order to impact opinions held by targeted foreign audiences (Manheim,

1994; Wang & Chang, 2004; Wanta, Golan & Lee, 2004). Whereas the first

perspective has emerged from the field of public relations, particularly influ￾enced by relationship management (e.g., Ledingham & Bruning, 2000), the

later has stemmed from researchers in the field of public opinion and political

communication.

Recognizing the importance of both the mediated and relational public

diplomacy perspectives, the current book provides a comprehensive approach

to what Golan (2013) referred to as the integrated public diplomacy per￾spective. Key to this perspective is the understanding that the focus of public

diplomacy is contingent upon the context in which governments and or non￾state actors operate. As explained by Golan, the mediated public diplomacy

approach may be best suited for short to medium term public diplomacy ob￾jectives. On the other hand, reputation management and relational diplomacy

may be best suited for medium to long term objectives.

Recognizing that no model provides a one size fits all solution to pub￾lic diplomacy, we contend that different nations and non-state actors will

focus on either or both the mediated or the relational approaches to public

diplomacy, depending on the internal and external factors that may impact

their stakeholder relationships. The purpose of the current edited book is to