PUBLIC DIPLOMACY DURING CRISES AND CONFLICTS: THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53477/2668-2001-21-29Keywords:
globalization; crisis; public diplomacy; Covid-19; transnational communication.Abstract
The spectacular evolution in communication technology, and not only, enabled the world to achieve today a high degree of interconnectivity and interdependence that would have been hard to fathom only a couple of decades ago. The economic, political and, alas, health crises swiftly cross political, cultural and religious borders and yield consequences not only where they appear. This phenomenon forces national institutions and international organizations to communicate with the public opinion at a transnational level, a process also achieved through public diplomacy. The present article suggests a framework of action in which public diplomacy may be used as an instrument of communication in the case of crisis provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The current period of time is seen as a critical moment, a crisis that can permanently shatter institutions and societies. There are considerable dangers beyond the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives, ranging from an economic crisis that might prove more serious than the one in 2008/9, to an accentuated crisis of democracy and geopolitical changes, while public diplomacy could mitigate or eliminate these possible evolutions.
References
Arquilla, John, Ronfeldt, David. 1999. The emergence of noopolitik: Toward an American information strategy, RAND, Santa Monica CA.
Austin, Henry, Smith, Alexander. 2020. Coronavirus: Chinese official suggests U.S. Army to blame for outbreak, in News, March 13, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/coronavirus-chinese-official-suggests-u-s-army-blame-outbreak-n1157826
Bergdolt, Klaus. 2012. Ciuma. Istoria morţii negre. Translated by Maria Cătălina Radu. Bucureşti: Editura ALL.
Bishop, Donald M. 2020. Disinformation Challenges in a Pandemic. Public Diplomacy Council. Accessed February 26, 2021. https://www.publicdiplomacycouncil.org/2020/07/10/ disinformation-challenges-in-a-pandemic/
Bjola, Corneliu, Manor, Ilan. 2020. Digital Diplomacy in The Time of The Coronavirus Pandemic, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, Mar 31. Accessed February 26, 2021. https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/digital-diplomacy-time-coronavirus-pandemic
Boghardt, Thomas. 2009. Soviet Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign. Studies in Intelligence vol.53, no. 4, 2009. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://digitallibrary.tsu.ge/ book/2019/september/books/Soviet-Bloc-Intelligence-and-Its-AIDS.pdf
Braw, Elisabeth. 2020. Beware of Bad Samaritans. Foreign Policy, 30 March 2020. Accessed February, 19, 2021. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/30/russia-china-coronavirus-geopolitic
Browne, Andrew. 2009. China Forces Dozens of Mexican Travelers Into Quarantine. The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2009. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ SB124137876507580987
Budnitsky, Stanislav. 2020. The Politics Of Russia's Vaccine Promotion, USC University of Southern California, Sep 29, 2020. Accessed on February 20, 2021. https://u.scpublicdiplomacy.org/ blog/politics-russias-vaccine-promotion
Chatham House, Russian Economic Sovereignty in the COVID-19 Age, June 11, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021.
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/06/russian-economic-sovereignty-covid19age?gclid= CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlz63tB1jHsautHBRSh_6SdxniIQ017jIxYn OPIK13FW7hHja2yqbrBoCYE4QAvD_BwE
Chernaskey, Rachel. 2020. Iranian, Chinese, and Russian Overt Media on Coronavirus, Foreign Policy Research Institute, 9 March 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://www.fpri.org/fie/overt-media-on-coronavirus/
Emerging Views and News on China's Role in the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2020. Occasional News Wrap – #18/April 2020. Accessed February 22, 2021. http://cuts-wdc.org/pdf/emerging-views-on-chinas-role-in-the-covid-19-pandemic.pdf
Green-Riley, Naima. 2020. Can Public Diplomacy Survive Increasing U.S.-China Friction? Thoughts on Mitigating the Threat of Sharp Power. Leah Bitounis and Niamh King, eds., Domestic & International (Dis)Order: A Strategic Response, Foreword by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. and Condoleezza Rice. Preface by Nicholas Burns and Anja Manuel. Washington DC: The Aspen Institute.
Iacurci, G. 2020. Unemployment is Nearing Great Depression levels. Here’s How the Eras are Similar — and Different. CNBC, 19 May 2020. Accessed February 22, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/19/unemployment-today-vs-the-great-depression-how-do-the-eras-compare.html
Khatiashvili, Mariami. 2020. Pandemic-Time U.S. Public Diplomacy in Georgia. USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Accessed February 26, 2021. https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/pandemic-time-us-public-diplomacy-georgia
Khan, Stephen. 2021. Vaccine diplomacy: how some countries are using COVID to enhance their soft power. The Conversation. February 22, 2021. Accessed February 27, 2021. https://theconversation.com/vaccine-diplomacy-how-some-countries-are-using-covid-to-enhance-their-soft-power-155697
Krasnyak, Olga. 2020. For Common Good: Russia’s Public Diplomacy During the Covid-19 Era. USC University of Southern California. Apr 17, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/common-good-russia%E2%80%99s-public-diplomacy-during-covid-19-era
Lo, Bobo. 2020. Global Order in the Shadow of the Coronavirus: China, Russia and The West. Lowy Institute. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/global-order-shadow-coronavirus-china-russia-and-west
Morse, Stephen S. 2007. Pandemic influenza: Studying the lessons of history. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (18), June 2007. Accessed February 19, 2021. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6369245_Pandemic_influenza_Studying_the_lessons_of_history. 7313-7314
Rice, Condoleezza. 2020. COVID-19 and National Security, 14 April 2020. Hoover Policy Briefing. Accessed February 19, 2021. https://www.hoover.org/research/condoleezza-rice-covid-19-and-national-security
Simms, Chris. 2018. Pandemic response: fear is inevitable, panic is optional. Accessed February 22, 2021. https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/faculty/faculty-health-professions/health-administration/Chris/Pandemic%20response%20fear%20is%20inevitable,%20panic%20optional.pdf
Signitzer, B., Wamser, C. 2006. Public diplomacy: A special governmental public relations function, in C. Botan, V. Hazleton, Eds., Public relations theory II, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah. 35-464.
Szicherle, Patrik, Krekó, Péter. 2020. Hungary: the Success Story of Chinese Mask Diplomacy, Center for Democrtic Integrity, August 3, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://democratic-integrity.eu/patrik-szicherle-peter-kreko-hungary-the-success-story-of-chinese-mask-diplomacy/
Varpahovskis, Eriks. 2020. Aid Diplomacy & Nation Image: Central Asia and Russia. USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Jul 31, 2020. Accessed February 21, 2021.
https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/aid-diplomacy-nation-image-central-asia-and-russia
Verma, Raj. 2020. China’s ‘mask diplomacy’ to change the COVID-19 narrative in Europe. Asia Eur J no. 18, 2020. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10308-020-00576-1. 205-209.
Winter, Lisa. 2020. Chinese Officials Blame US Army for Coronavirus, in The Scientist, Mar 13, 2020. Accessed February 22, 2021. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/chinese-officials-blame-us-army-for-coronavirus-67267
