Aid from you? Thanks, but no thanks!

Public diplomacy it is not a matter of spreading ideas or information to harm or benefit a nation, but it is a way of sharing values with other states and showing them that they are not very different from us. Public diplomacy tries to “win the hearts and minds of people”. However, states can use all kinds of “tactics” to change people’s feelings regarding another country.

The following example caught my attention by the strategy used by the decision-makers, The Hurricane Katrina, which remains fresh in our memory, is a relatively recent event. This incident demonstrated the other side of the USA where racial and socioeconomic differences are relevant. Plus, it made the world question if there actually exists freedom and justice on that country. (2008, p. 224).

Many countries provided aid to the US and Condoleezza Rice asserted that “no offer that can alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused” (2008, p. 224). Nevertheless, Cuba and Venezuela also pledged help for the hurricane victims. Actually, Castro was one of the first to offer medical supplies and around 1000 doctors to help that region but it was declined because there were already enough American doctors in the area. The offer to provide food, water, and oil by the Venezuelans, despite of the delay, it was accepted by the U.S. government.

Plus, there was an interesting statement of the White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan: “When it comes to Cuba, we have one message for Fidel Castro: He needs to offer the people of Cuba their freedom”. Following Mr. McClellan’s logic the US should not have accepted aid from China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Or perhaps he thinks that the freedom of people on those countries is less relevant than Cubans’.

The US response, especially to Cuba, promoted these countries as the Good Samaritans and the US as a selfish capitalist. Often public diplomacy is used by these countries to promote themselves worldwide, and domestically it helps them preserve their government. In this case this event only jeopardised and decreased US credibility within that region.

The previous example demonstrates how aid can be used for public diplomacy and how it benefits one country’s image by debilitating another’s. Focusing on authoritarian regimes public diplomacy is extremely important since it promotes the country and their ideals, but also internally it sustains the whole regime.

References

Cowan, G. and Cull, N. (2008) ‘Public diplomacy in a changing world’ in The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol.616

Others: some parts where referenced with links to webpages.