Improving Public Diplomacy, the Frontline of Soft Power

Abstract

This paper asserts the importance of public diplomacy, an element of soft power, in achieving U.S. national security goals. Following an analysis of the U.S. Government's process of formulating and deploying soft power and public diplomacy, the paper reviews and assesses historical and contemporary applications of public diplomacy as an element of national power. In addition to reform and modernization of the State Department's public diplomacy capacity, the author recommends that more attention, resources, and personnel be appropriated by the U.S. Government toward public diplomacy initiatives. The paper concludes that national policy makers should integrate public diplomacy -- as a complement to hard power -- more fully into foreign policy planning and execution to achieve national security goals.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA530127

Entities

People

  • Demian Smith

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Foreign Policy
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Second World War
  • Terrorism
  • Treaties

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies