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Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories

Author

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  • Nicholas J. Cull

    (University of Southern California)

Abstract

Public diplomacy is a term much used but seldom subjected to rigorous analysis. This article—which draws heavily on a report commissioned by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the spring of 2007—sets out a simple taxonomy of public diplomacy's components and their interrelationships. These components are (1) listening, (2) advocacy, (3) cultural diplomacy, (4) exchange, and (5) international broadcasting. It examines five successful and five unsuccessful uses of each individual component drawing from the history of U.S., Franco-German, Swiss, and British diplomatic practice. The failures arise chiefly from a discrepancy between rhetoric and reality. The final section applies the author's taxonomy to the challenges of contemporary public diplomacy and places special emphasis on the need to conceptualize the task of the public diplomat as that of the creator and disseminator of “memes†(ideas capable of being spread from one person to another across a social network) and as a creator and facilitator of networks and relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas J. Cull, 2008. "Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 31-54, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:616:y:2008:i:1:p:31-54
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716207311952
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    Cited by:

    1. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Country image, cultural diplomacy, and sports during the COVID19 pandemic: Brand America and Super Bowl LV," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 249-265, September.
    2. R. S. Zaharna, 2022. "The pandemic’s wake-up call for humanity-centered public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(1), pages 4-7, March.
    3. Yelena Osipova-Stocker & Eulynn Shiu & Thomas Layou & Shawn Powers, 2022. "Assessing impact in global media: methods, innovations, and challenges," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 287-304, September.
    4. Steven L. Pike, 2022. "Using Q methodology to augment evaluation of public diplomacy programs," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 240-253, September.
    5. Steven L. Pike, 2023. "What diplomats do: US citizen perspectives on the work of public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 442-455, December.
    6. Inês Guerra Santos & Simone Antoniaci Tuzzo & Fábia Borges & Maria Manuel Sá, 2025. "From Technology to Social Inclusion: Citizens’ Perceptions and Priorities About Smart Cities in the District of Porto, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Olga Krasnyak, 2023. "The Cold War statecraft and public diplomacy: assessing US-Soviet scientific-technical exchanges," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 54-63, March.
    8. Qiuyue Cho-Li & Yuxuan Jin & Spiro Kiousis, 2025. "Borrowing a mouth to speak? Foreign content creators in China’s national image building," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 412-426, December.
    9. Kadir Jun Ayhan & Efe Sevin, 2022. "Moving public diplomacy research forward: methodological approaches," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 201-203, September.
    10. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "The Olympic Games, nation branding, and public diplomacy in a post-pandemic world: Reflections on Tokyo 2020 and beyond," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 386-397, September.
    11. Seow Ting Lee, 2022. "Film as cultural diplomacy: South Korea’s nation branding through Parasite (2019)," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 93-104, June.
    12. Matthew T. Palmer & Eugene Bempong Nyantakyi & Jami A. Fullerton, 2023. "The US Peace Corps as a public diplomacy strategy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 15-29, March.
    13. Dr. Abhishek Srivastava, 2026. "India’s Soft Power Strategy: Continuity and Change," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 10(5), pages 10897-10905, May.
    14. Richard Parrish, 2022. "EU Sport Diplomacy: An Idea Whose Time Has Nearly Come," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1511-1528, September.
    15. Ilan Manor & Ronit Kampf, 2022. "Digital Nativity and Digital Diplomacy: Exploring Conceptual Differences Between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(4), pages 442-457, September.
    16. Barako Mariko Galgallo & Ngari Lazarus Kinyua, 2025. "Kenya’s Public Diplomatic Initiatives in Enhancing Peaceful Co-Existence among Ethnic Somalis in Bur Ache, Somalia and Mandera County, Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(6), pages 3000-3010, June.
    17. Aparajita Thapliyal, 2026. "India’s Soft Power Through Cultural Diplomacy’s Instruments of Performing Arts," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 13(4), pages 2975-2986, April.
    18. Hendrik W. Ohnesorge, 2022. "The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 261-271, September.
    19. Andrea Pavón-Guinea & Mónica Codina, 2024. "Public diplomacy: a framework-based literature review and decentering research agenda," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 255-274, September.
    20. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Sports, Brand America and U.S. public diplomacy during the presidency of Donald Trump," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 167-180, March.
    21. B. Theo Mazumdar, 2024. "Digital diplomacy: Internet-based public diplomacy activities or novel forms of public engagement?," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 24-43, March.
    22. Yoav Dubinsky, 2022. "Sport-tech diplomacy: exploring the intersections between the sport-tech ecosystem, innovation, and diplomacy in Israel," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 169-180, June.
    23. Steven L. Pike & Dennis F. Kinsey, 2024. "Diplomatic identity and communication: using Q methodology to assess subjective perceptions of diplomatic practitioners," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 66-75, March.
    24. Yadira Ixchel Martínez Pantoja & Rafael San José Iglesias & Jitka Volfová & Kateřina Chvátalová, 2025. "Festivals as instruments of public diplomacy: The Festival of Embassies in Prague," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 272-286, June.
    25. Biyun Zhu, 2023. "Tool selection for public diplomacy flagships: toward an adaptive model," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 42-53, March.

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