Public Diplomacy

Public diplomacy is a diplomatic and international communication activity aimed at foreign publics and seeking to create a positive image and/or political influence, contributing to the achievement of foreign policy goals. On June 9th, 2015, public diplomacy scholars and practitioners coming from Europe and Latin America gathered in a research seminar organised by the Centre for International Relations Studies (CEFIR), at the University of Liège. They contributed their works on public diplomacy from the perspectives of its cultural, communicative and image components. The result of that seminar is this book, which reflects the current diversity of theoretical aspects and practices of public diplomacy. Taking the European Union, some Latin American countries (Venezuela and Mexico) and even civil society organisations as the actors whose public diplomacy actions are studied, this book provides both reflections and empirical analysis of public diplomacy strategies developed from different angles.

María Luisa Azpíroz Manero is Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for International Relations Studies (CEFIR), at the University of Liege. Her fellowship was granted by the University of Liege and the Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission. She holds a PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Navarra, and was visiting researcher at Royal Holloway University of London and George Washington University. She was also Visiting Professor at Panamerican University, in Mexico. Her research areas are public diplomacy, discourse and media analysis. Some of her publications are: Soft Power and Public Diplomacy: The Case of the European Union in Brazil (2015); Framing and Political Discourse: Bush’s Trip to Europe in 2005 (2014); Framing as a Tool for Mediatic Diplomacy Analysis: Study of George W. Bush’s Political Discourse in the «War on Terror» (2013) and Framing the «Clash of Civilizations» in Europe: Interaction between Political and Media Frames (2009).