Media Diplomacy

International relations assesses good and bad relations, initially between sovereign states and now more recently between states and other international actors: international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, individuals, and multinational corporations. International law provides the ability for nations to interact in their mutual relations based on conventions, treaties, customs, general legal principles, international judicial decisions, and scholarly writings. The study of international relations began and increased considerably after World War I, with the 1970s a time of particular attention to and growth of theories on this subject. William Slomanson suggests that there are two primary approaches to international relations: the monist approach that sees international law and national laws forming a unified, universal legal system and the dualist approach that argues that they are distinct systems, allowing states to accept or ignore international laws that conflict with their national laws.

Diplomacy is the official conduct of international relations between national leaders, conducted privately and often in secret or through public diplomacy. Diplomacy includes the establishment of foreign missions, ambassadors, envoys, and consular services. Diplomatic efforts require states to develop foreign affairs ministries, national and international policies, and the establishment of official missions abroad to implement policies and necessary personnel for the systems to work efficiently. The foreign ministry negotiates with the host government and reports on important events in the foreign country. Foreign ministries organize other activities, including international exchanges, public and media diplomacy, consular services for its citizens, and visas for foreign citizens and residents.

[Page 631]Dean Edmund Gullion of the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy identified public diplomacy in 1965 as involving all international diplomacy except direct official interactions between national governments. It includes the ways that countries or international organizations like the United Nations interact directly with citizens in other countries. The influence on foreign public attitudes and opinions includes not only government spokesmen in one country addressing the citizens of another nation, but also private groups communicating with citizens of other countries. In this way, one government's or citizen's approach to foreign affairs involves communication between diplomats and foreign citizens or foreign correspondents.

Public diplomacy supplements the transnational flow of information and ideas. Diplomatic media report on public addresses or statements and meetings at the United Nations, often with as many as 1,000 or more journalists present during the annual General Assembly meetings. Currently, as many as 130 heads of state and government go to New York for the annual General Debates, with journalists reporting on the activities and debates on a global, regional, or national basis. Many other international and regional governmental and nongovernmental agencies and organizations exchange diplomats and utilize public and media diplomacy, such as the African Union, Arab League, ASEAN, European Union, G8 Countries, Organization of American States, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, and World Trade Organization. Government-sponsored programs inform or influence public opinion in other countries through publications, cinema, cultural exchanges, radio, television, the internet, art, music, drama, sports, and public exhibitions. In this sense, it is a dialogical two-way exchange between diplomats and citizens of other countries, or between citizens of various countries.

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