PUBLIC DIPLOMACY; TOOLS OF POWER IN FOREIGN POLICY; (CASE STUDY: APPLICATION OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN FOREIGN POLICY OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

Abstract

The research is carried out to describe public diplomacy as a tool of power for countries to advance
their national interest and it is trying to answer this: “What are the best reasons to apply public
diplomacy in foreign policy?” The method of research in this study is descriptive-analytic. First, a
theoretical description of public diplomacy has been provided and then the way public diplomacy is
applied in US foreign policy is analyzed. Public diplomacy is the process of direct communication
with people in other countries to influence their thoughts often its goal is to influence the behavior
of foreign governments via influencing the viewpoints of their citizens.
The importance of public diplomacy, especially in terms of promoting a country’s image, comes
into play and police-makers do their utmost to get their message across and, hence, leave a positive
image of themselves. The United States of America was the first country to realize the importance
of public diplomacy in foreign policy after the September 11 terrorist incidents and seriously took
advantage of it. In this regard, the US relied on soft power and targeted other nations and by this
means tried to give identity to people in accordance with the policies and interests of the US, and
captured their hearts and minds to make them follow their policies.
The United States has concluded that to advance its national interest on international level, before
anything it needs to make the public opinion follow them and attaining this goal is tied to the use of
soft power and public diplomacy; However, despite the efforts by American politicians to make up
and positive image of this country, because the authoritarian policies of the United States in some
regions like the Middle East, the negative image of the US is becoming widespread by the day.