Public Diplomacy Utility of Citizen Action on National Image Branding & advancing Shared Values among Nations RP Vol. IX No XV - MMXV

Public Diplomacy

Utility of Citizen Action on National

Image Branding & advancing Shared Values among Nations

PORAD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Addis Ababa, Sept 2005 (reviewed 2015)

Public Lecture Notes - RP Vol. IX No XV - MMXV

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Chairman, Lem Ethiopia, the Environment 7Development Society,  https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos 

Abstract

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of states. Public diplomacy… deals with the influence of public attitudes on the formation and execution of foreign policies. It encompasses dimensions of international relations beyond traditional diplomacy; the cultivation by governments of public opinion in other countries; the interaction of private groups and interests in one country with another; the reporting of foreign affairs and its impact on policy; communication between those whose job is communication, as diplomats and foreign correspondents; and the process of intercultural communications. Why does Ethiopia need to undertake public diplomacy now? Now that Ethiopia is building The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam expected to produce around 6000 megawatts of electricity in the Blue Nile Gorge near the border with Sudan, Cairo is nervous that the waters of the Nile might be in jeopardy. In addition, the acquired brand of Ethiopia is that of bad governments that violate human rights, corrupt, famine, pestilence, violence and destitutions. True, the human rights norms and principles of stemming the tide of human vulnerability to violence are the bedrock of the modern notion of human security today. Hence, public opinion regarding the level of national government competency and fairness and citizen’s beliefs about government, and its perceived commitment to democracy, justice and human security are important. It measures the population's reputation for competence, education, openness and friendliness and perceived levels of potential hostility. For this reason, nation branding becomes an important instrument of competitiveness in a globalised world. Ethiopia needs a vibrant civil society that envisions a society that is committed to confronting bad Ethiopian images and able to reverse the current trend of human right allegation it faces. The solution is at hand, nonetheless, it enters politics and society in relatively abstract and plain form, yet pundits expect it to land itself to the immediate and vital African polity's socio-political experience. It suggests itself, and seems within reach, only to elude and appears readily practicable only to resist realisation. Hence, there is no more compelling raison d'être nor a mission-objective so utterly entrenched in the preservation and, even advancement of The Horn of Africa human-kind, than public diplomacy that can lead a social league to relate cogently to a peaceful region.

Key words: public diplomacy, diplomacy, nation branding, civil society, human rights, democracy, 

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/36993141/Public_Diplomacy_-_Utility_of_Citizen_Action_on_National_Image_Branding_and_advancing_Shared_Values_among_Nations_RP_Vol_IX_No_XV_MMXV