Nowwe will take a closer look at the history of US public policy including thefounding fathers and how they used their foreign policy to prevent an outbreak ofa war and ended up winning their independence and ended up forming the UnitedStates of America.
The research period for the history will be the beginning ofthe United States and then a main focus on the 20th century, withthe main events related war, meaning World War 1, World War 2 and the Cold Warperiod. The 21st century with the September 11 attacks, will bediscussed in another portion. Basically,the United States or at that time colonies, as the United States as a countrydid not formally exist, was being taxed by the British Empire to pay for theirown benefits including going to war. What enraged the colonies even further wasthe fact that they were being taxed without actually having elected any officials,which was known as taxation without representation. This of course enraged thecolonies, as they themselves were not able to vote for any representation andwere being taxed without even having any representatives. If you look at itfrom this point of view, you could consider the founding fathers the firstdiplomats of the United States of America.
Ben Franklin acted on the coloniesbehalf and flew out to different countries, presenting his case to governmentsand releasing articles, pamphlets and other documents to further his cause. USPublic Diplomacy was a little bit quieter after that. Events in the 20thcentury have given rise again to more use of US Public Diplomacy. During theoutbreak of the first World War in the 1917 President Woodrow Wilson came upwith the idea to establish a Committee on Public Information, or CPI for short.
This was a campaign from the US government to get the general public involvedin World War 1. Not only did this campaign try to get the general publicinvolved, but also asked for support and in the hopes of also stopping localand foreign opinion against US involvement in the war3. HistoryTo betterunderstand governments actions and interactions with the world and othercountries it is important to know what public diplomacy is and how leaders useit for their countries and how their interaction with other leaders affects itscitizens and the people and major public in general.
For example, a diplomatcould be using his own made public diplomacy regarding the current situationgiven in his or her host country, making sure it suits local conditions. Publicdiplomacy is if you think about it a little like running a business, you aregoing to find ways to market your country, for example by producing informationabout your country, such as magazines, literature, movies, etc. To be morespecific when it comes to the United States, ‘Public diplomacy entailsinforming, engaging and influencing foreign publics so that they may, in turn,encourage their governments to support key U.
S. policies’ (US AdvisoryCommission) Public diplomacy is a part of a country´s foreign policy tool. Nowof course, some countries, such as North Korea do not care much about theirimage to the rest of the world and especially in relation to the United States,but as we will focus mainly on the US, you can still get an idea about whatpublic diplomacy is, and how countries use or not use it. This means thatpublic diplomacy also helps correct false images and other negative views theremight be, again depending on the country, as mentioned above, as North Koreahas a different policy. Most other countries, including the United States willmostly focus on creating a positive view of themselves to the rest of theworld, this includes removing any negative views there might be, of course theUSA will have its wars which are not going to be seen as positive in regards tocertain countries, however this is something that is can always have an effecton a country´s image. Other factors that public diplomacy includes are hopingfor more foreign investment from businesses, etc.
, hoping to spur up theeconomy for example through visiting tourists and educating about its culture.It is also to create a deeper understanding of each other’s cultures and buildconnections and relationships with each other. As a whole, governments not onlyinteract with other governments, but also educational institutions, citizens ofeach country, etc. for example by giving other countries a foreign library oran exhibit explaining more about the culture of the country, other mediaoutlets that can be use are the World Wide Web for example.2. Understanding Public DiplomacyIn this essay wewill take a closer look at public diplomacy of the United States, specifically,the history of US public diplomacy starting with the founding fathers and howthe United States was formed. Then we will look at examples of current and recentpublic diplomacy issues and events that have shaped US image around the worldespecially regarding the middle east and the Islamic world.
In addition, withthe “decline” of the US economy and the rise of the Chinese economy, we willalso look at US-China relations and how public diplomacy is used. Lastly, wewill take a look at US outreach activities that engage foreign countries in USculture and bring other countries closer to the US, American culture and theAmerican way of life. The first question to ask is, what is a Public Diplomacy?Looking at the dictionary definition of public policy according to MerriamWebster it´s “the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with othersovereign states” (Merriam Webster) or “a government strategy in dealing withother nations”, what is important is that one should not forget that mostly thestate or nation is still dealing with self-interest, meaning that even if thecooperation happens, governments will still protect their own interest. 1. Introduction 7.Conclusion
