Tool selection for public diplomacy flagships: toward an adaptive model

Abstract

The evolving relationship between nation-states and sub-national actors makes public policy a meaningful inside-out approach in public diplomacy (PD) research. This multi-level participation and complexity have also drawn attention to "flagship" as a particular mechanism that systematically coordinates and manages PD activities. Public diplomacy flagship, such as the Fulbright Program and the British Council, is an orchestra of various programs that serves the national agenda as well as personal and organizational goals. Yet, we seem to know little about the decision-making process of why the programs are selected and how they are fitted into a flagship. This article attempts to address this question from a public policy perspective. Viewing PD activities in various kinds as "tool options," this article presents an adaptive model of tool selection to unpack the decision-making in public diplomacy flagships. Acknowledging the influence of human factors and the risk of over-generalization, the model aims to present one possibility among many and focus on the underlying relationships between the tools and their roles in a flagship. With examples from the Fulbright Program, the British Council, and Confucius Institute, this article explains how different users can adapt the model for their analytical, evaluative, and comparative purposes.

Moving to a new phase in public diplomacy research

“…The instrumental approach could also help to amalgamate concepts, models, and methodologies. Although Zhu (2021) did not use this approach, his normative study of PD tools decision-makers select, demonstrated its potential contribution to new PD research.…”

“…Golan (2013) adopted a similar approach. More recent attempts include Zhu's (2021) adaptive model, designed to offer a framework for the selection of PD tools; and Zhang's (2020) PD radar framework consisting of two crossing axes representing ethics (compassion and manipulation) and efficacy (narratives and rational arguments), and five concentric circles that represent goals of PD, power of PD, "worldviews" underlying PD practices, and relevant theories. These two recent models are interesting, but they are very complex, cover too many variables, and would be difficult to apply.…”

Soğuk Savaş Sonrasi Türk Diş Poli̇ti̇kasinda Kamu Di̇plomasi̇si̇ni̇n Rolü Ve Etki̇si̇

“…İnsanlar arasında bağlantıyı kurmayı, becerileri geliştirmeyi, uluslararası değerler yaratmayı ve deneyimleri paylaşmayı hedefleyen Fulbright, her yıl 1.700'den fazla burs olanağı, 800 ABD'li Akademisyenin yurtdışına çıkması ve 900 Misafir Akademisyenin ABD'ye gelmesi olanaklarıyla insanların ABD'ye dair olumlu düşüncelerle evlerine dönmesini istemektedir (''Fulbright Scholar Program'', t.y.). Kaynak: (Zhu, 2023).…”

“…Burada yüksek profilli uluslararası etkinlikler gibi stratejik araçlar, özellikle eğitim ve kültür programlarını desteklemek için kullanılan uygulamalardır. Dolayısıyla da çok aktörlü katılım, devlet ve devlet dışı aktörler arasındaki resmi ve gayri resmi ilişkiler yoluyla genişletmekte ve araçları işlevselleştirilmektedir (Zhu, 2023). Nitekim örneklerden hareket ile İngiltere'deki ''British Council'', kamu diplomasisi uygulamaları adına değerli bir örnektir.…”