POL S 403 A: Advanced Seminar In International Relations

In the last couple of decades, public diplomacy has become a catch-phrase to refer to states’ activities aimed at creating a receptive environment for their policies among foreign publics. Originally known as “propaganda”, the concept was introduced during the Cold War and gained new significance after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Nowadays, public diplomacy has become a central domain of engagement not only for states but also for international organizations such as the European Union (EU) that in its Global Strategy (2016) flagged the need of joining up efforts in the field of public diplomacy, inside and outside the EU. The first part of the course is designed to offer an overview of the history of public diplomacy through the twentieth century, its relationship to soft power and related activities including nation-branding, cultural relations and education exchange. The second part of the seminar will be research-oriented and examine concrete public diplomacy efforts characterizing Germany and other European countries as well as the EU worldwide.