Strictly talking about what has been written about the country’s public diplomacy there are two notable titles: “Romania and its Public diplomacy in the process of North Atlantic Treaty Organization integration”2 and “Romania trying to be a European brand”.
The first one focuses more on the campaigns designed in order to obtain national and international support for entering the international organization and the second one focuses on the attempts of national branding before the acceptance in the European Union in 2007.
Also there are two renowned practitioners Wally Olins and Simon Anhold that before and after 2007 presented interest in the case of Romania and how it is perceived by foreigners. Both of them presented what they consider to be the greatest problems and possible solutions that can be implemented by the government but their ideas were never integrated in the national strategies created to promote the country’s image abroad.
2.3 Overview of the Research Paper
Public diplomacy and national branding are related meaning that if one encounters challenges the other part will be affected equally given an extra argument for the understanding of the challenges facing it. As Wally Olins famously states “the alternative is for countries to trade up, differentiating themselves like consumer brands- emphasizing their art, culture, history, food, architecture, landscape and other unique characteristics through sophisticated imagery.”3
In order to better understand the connections between the terms public diplomacy, national brand, challenges of public diplomacy and other related terms the second chapter presents the most important and frequently used terms in this paper.
Public diplomacy has given us a change to try to look beyond traditional diplomacy. In chapter three as we go through the main definitions regarding this term the main focus is on the actors engaged in public diplomacy, as in the sender and receiver of the message, the message, the medium and ethical challenges.
2 Liliana Neumann, “Romania and its Public Diplomacy in the Process of NATO Integration,” PhD. Diss., Babes-Bolyai University, 2011, accessed March 11, 2013,
http://doctorat.ubbcluj.ro/sustinerea_publica/rezumate/2011/relatii-internationale/NEUMANN_LILIANA_EN.pdf.
3 Wally Olins, “Making a National Brand,” in The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations, ed. Jan Melissen, New York, Ed. Palgrave, 2005, p. 175.
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The problem is that there are so many countries with their own distinct history, characteristics and shortcomings that is relatively impossible to apply only one type of public diplomacy strategy in order to create an accurate depiction of a situation a country is in.
Considering the main focus of this paper as being the challenges of public diplomacy the literature review is an important part of understanding not only the challenges but also the possible solutions for the country case given in this paper by looking at different public diplomacy definitions. Also critique to public diplomacy is included considering that the views on the importance of public diplomacy are divided.
Chapter four presents two of the possible challenges for public diplomacy: the struggle for creating a national identity, as internal challenge, and negative press news in foreign media, as external challenge.
In chapter five the European perception of Romania and the main public diplomacy actions after 2007 in Great Britain are presented a case where traditional diplomacy is working between the two countries but for Romania’s public diplomacy to work this country presents one challenge meaning negative news.
Chapter six presents possible solutions based on long term image and relation building public diplomacy actions. Long term image building based on the country specific value system and making use of domestic sources of soft power.
Long term relation building refers to cultural actions, educational exchange, use of media and national branding. Public diplomacy momentums relay on the fast and adequate responses to current topics that have international appeal.
For the conclusion part a review of the main ideas are presented and also possible new directions of research.
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3 Chapter II - Definition of Key Terms and Concepts
It is important to explain the main terms that will be used in this paper. All of them will be explained in relation to what can represent public diplomacy.
Traditional Diplomacy consists of actions that aim to influence the decision makers of foreign countries, actions that are conducted only by those working in the diplomacy.
Public Diplomacy can be considered to be a specific line of activities done by a country’s government, in collaboration with other public or private entities, using soft power in order to promote and enhance a positive image in the eyes of foreign publics.
New Public Diplomacy features a multitude of actors and actions engaged in the national promotion in the international arena.
Challenges for Public Diplomacy can be internal or external.
Internal refers to those challenges that have to deal with the actor responsible for the public diplomacy strategy. These can include: lack of national identity, a heavy bureaucratic structure that slows down the implementation process of the public diplomacy strategy, lack of funding, lack of political stability, partial implementation of the strategy.
External refers to those challenges encounter in the country where the actor wants to implement the public diplomacy. These can include: foreign publics that have a negative perception towards the country that is trying to implement the public diplomacy actions, strain relations with the media and other actors engaged in public diplomacy, the history of that country, the historical relations between the two countries, the relationship of the foreign public with its media.
Public Diplomacy Tools
In order to achieve this objective a set of tools can be attributed to the public diplomacy strategy implementation. These events targeting the larger part of the foreign public can include:
cultural programs, academic exchanges, media relations, and branding activities.
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Cultural Programs refer to the activities that use cultural aspects of a country’s national identity and artistic expressions as a way of promotion and creation of a dialogue platform to engage with foreign publics.
Academic Exchanges include the mobilization of students and scholars through opportunities to study abroad and engaging in joint projects, conferences and research.
Media Relations can refer not only to the relationships of the foreign ministry press representative with local and foreign media but also to the relationships between the media and foreign publics. Related to this topic is also the use of technology and social media to communicate that is more specific to public diplomacy.
National Branding Activities include the actions undertaken by the designated governmental bodies to create, promote and implement a national image strategy in order to promote the country abroad.
One example can be having a national image as a touristic destination as in the case presented in this paper.
Political Stability meaning the likelihood that the government can be destabilized or overturned by unconstitutional means, in this paper it refers to changes in government due to elections or political rivalry will not interfere with the directives given to the established governmental bodies responsible for the national promotion abroad.
Public Diplomacy Momentums refer to fast and adequate responses to topics that have international appeal in order to receive positive attention.
Soft Power coined by Nye in the late 1980s, the term "soft power" -- the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.
Smart Power is the combination of hard power and soft power in ways that reinforce the intentions of a government
National Image the sum of natural, social, cultural images of a country that are used to present it to foreign public.