Section: Organisational and Strategic Communication
‘UNITED IN DIVERSITY’? INTRODUCING A RESEARCH MODEL TO ANALYZE THE RELATION OF NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
* *Alice SRUGIES, Ilmenau University of Technology
Similarly to strategic communication, public diplomacy implies the „purposeful use of communication by an organization” (Hallahan et al. 2007: 1), with the mission to influence a country’s image abroad, evoke understanding and sympathy for its goals and establish longterm partnerships. As the term “country” indicates, research on the concept predominantly draws on the nation state as a frame of reference. However, the process of globalization, that has stimulated profound changes in the economic, political and public sphere particularly furthered by the new information and communication technologies, challenges this assumption.
The case of the European Union (EU) shows that public diplomacy is not restricted to actors of one particular country, but also embraces transnational organizations operation beyond national borders. The EU motto “United in diversity” comprises both the notion that European citizens “are united in working together for peace and prosperity” and the acknowledgment of “the many different cultures, traditions and languages in Europe” (EUROPA n.y.). Risse (2010) points to the formation of a European public sphere and the growth of a European identity which provide a strong foundation for transnational European public diplomacy. By contrast, Mai\'a David Cross (2010) reveals a gap between the actions of the EU and their external visibility that she draws back to national communication strategies that are inconsistent with or even contradictory to a common European public diplomacy. This constitutes a strategic challenge between “multilateral cooperation” and the “competitive identity” (Fisher 2010: 1) of 27 EU member states pursuing individual, often conflicting communication goals and strategies.
The proposed paper raises the question how much importance is attached to a multilateral, cooperative approach to public diplomacy highlighting common ideas and goals compared to a competitive approach to public diplomacy emphasizing individual messages, aims and attainments. It scrutinizes to what extent the aims and messages of the single member states are taken into consideration on EU level, and vice versa, to what extent core messages and ideas of the EU are reflected in the external communication strategies of the member states.
The proposed paper introduces an interdisciplinary research model bringing findings from public diplomacy research, international communication and international relations together. In a first step, it explores the influence of country-specific variables (size of a country, political culture, history, military strength, economic power etc.) on the understanding and practice of public diplomacy (goals, strategies, key messages, target groups, structures, challenges). In a second step, the country-specific approaches to public diplomacy and the relationship to the EU (year of the accession to the EU, influence on EU decisions, public opinion towards the EU etc.) determine the importance the selected member states pay to a transnational public diplomacy in comparison to a national public diplomacy. Additionally, the research model fathoms the public diplomacy approach of the EU, its goals, strategies, key messages, target groups, structures, resources and challenges. It serves as a basis of a comprehensive, comparative multi-method study to analyze the relationship between transnational and national public diplomacy using the example of the EU and selected member states.