Insights on Public Diplomacy

An island surrounded by sea and rich in water resources and an independent country with buried cities built three millennia before deserves a much better picture overseas than what is projected now through global media coverage.

A country which had sent embassies to Rome, Greece, Persia and ancient China, seems to be at the receiving end of a well-articulated anti-Sri Lanka campaign launched by the Tamil Diaspora. Even relations with India and State of Tamil Nadu have reached all-time low and it is high time Sri Lanka waged the war on hearts and minds.

Image under attack

The image of Sri Lanka has been hit hard due to internal political bungling and also due to a lack of cohesion in our foreign policy. The Head of State has been rebuffed twice before and events organised aboard had to be cancelled. It is a national shame irrespective of the differences on policy issues or the political ideology one subscribes to. He is none other than the President of Sri Lank who rid the country of brutal terrorism.

There have also been wild utterances from within the Government that would have contributed to the alienation of Sri Lanka from its traditional allies. The war victory brought about a massive upheaval in Diaspora politics and there is a marked lacuna in crafting a strategy to meet this challenge overseas.

The primary responsibility for confronting adverse media coverage overseas rests with Sri Lanka diplomatic missions, but unfortunately the conduct of foreign policy itself seems to be in doldrums. There are press reports about the rumblings of diplomats over various petty issues of transfers and this is a very disturbing trend and the Government must desist from interfering with the work of able diplomats.

This is a very crucial time for Sri Lanka and the situation demands quick fixes. This has been frustrated by political bickering at various levels of the Government’s policy making apparatus. Was this due to lack of trenchant voices within the Cabinet of Ministers? Are they well entrenched in their positions for self-centred ambitions perks and privileges? Are Ministers no concerned about the governance? Have they been rendered voiceless due to political influence they wield?

What is Public Diplomacy (PD)?

Public Diplomacy (PD) is about influencing public attitudes on the formulation and execution of foreign policies. It transcends traditional official diplomacy but complimentary to official conduct of diplomats. It demands spreading communications favourable to the Government with all stakeholders of a targeted audience. It need not be through official diplomats but rather it could even be spread through cultural events, trade missions and academic exchanges, etc.

There are a host of Buddhist Centres established by the efforts of Sri Lankan Buddhists overseas and these institutions can play a very active role in shaping our public diplomacy. What is required is their active engagement in policy discussions and nothing is more effective than the communications from our Buddhist Centres overseas.

A country like the United States produces thousands of daily newspapers, journals, blogs and literature. A small country like Sri Lanka with a limited budget cannot mount such a strategy encompassing the global media. It therefore requires that all Government communications strategies must be through a single channel leaving a narrow margin for misinterpretation.

Branding Sri Lanka

With the advent of communications technologies, social media networks and globalisation have made every country more aware of its image and reputation. Building foreign support against terrorism, encourage cooperation to protect the environment or attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and tourists, influencing foreign public opinion are now more crucial than ever.

The Government will have to use the instruments of public diplomacy – cultural programs, international education, international broadcasting, trade, and investment promotion – to exercise its soft power internationally. It is also important to protect and nurture a distinct national identity through the strategic exercise of public diplomacy, at home and abroad.

If the Government is not sincere enough to improve its domestic political standing, such as avoiding holding provincial elections in selected areas for its own advantage, no amount of PD would exonerate the government of its anti democratic exercises.

A pressing need of the Government is to enhance its credibility by conducting elections in the Northern Province. It must show the whole world that it is committed to building civilian political institutions in the northern peninsula. This would be a cheaper and effective means of achieving public relations than by hiring costly PR consultants worldwide to project Sri Lanka’s image.

Sri Lanka should develop and enhance its strong global standing by highlighting the positive status of the Sri Lanka locally, regionally and globally in different arenas. It must enhance and improve the global standing by strengthening the role of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions abroad, strengthening the foreign policy to support the Government’s strategic direction in trade and investment.

It is also necessary to create a climate where foreign audience could believe what the Government says by establishing credibility. The credibility is the first test of any exercise. It must ensure that the rule of law and media freedoms is upheld. Absence of this is very damaging to the Government’s reputation. The Government must ensure that the Judiciary exercises its duty without any undue pressure over their decisions. The Government must reconsider conducting elections in liberated areas because if would certainly augment the Government’s standing.

Soft power and our lost influence with the West

There has been a marked deterioration of our friendship with Western powers. Sri Lanka has had very cordial relations with the West. This was one of the reasons that led to the ban of the LTTE in these countries. It was a strategic victory brought about by late Lakshman Kadirgamar, who paid the supreme sacrifice for that.

The Government should be on the side of West but unfortunately the Tamil Diaspora seems to have made inroads into our traditional allies. The more the Government alienates itself from the West, the more opportunities it provides for the pro-separatist lobby to be heard by the West.

Professor Joseph S. Nye, an authority on public diplomacy, describes soft power in his book ‘Soft Power; The Means to Success in World Politics’ as the ability to get what we want through attraction. It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals and policies.

When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft power is enhanced. This clearly demonstrates that rule of law, transparency in public finance and independence of judiciary are crucial factors which would determine the Government’s credibility.

(The writer is a freelance journalist and a political lobbying and government relations consultant.)