Diplomacia pública, propaganda y poder blando

Public diplomacy is a series of government actions intended to project a certain image of the country in question among the citizens of other nations. As a result of the development of new communications and information technologies, governments are now armed with abundant tools with which to create a perception of their country in keeping with their political interests. The sheer amount of resources that are channeled into this endeavor underlines the close connection between politics and information, which only goes to confirm the importance of public diplomacy in the formulation of foreign policy. However, according to Carlos García de Alba, these tools have not been put to the service of Mexican culture, even though it has proven highly successful as a public diplomacy strategy on an international level. To ensure public diplomacy better serves national interests, Mexican culture needs to form part of a long-term government strategy that fully incorporates it as a diplomatic instrument. In this context, the Mexican Foreign Service plays a central role in the task of educating its young diplomats as to the strategic importance of promoting culture and how it ties in with the economic and political objectives of their profession. From the standpoint of public diplomacy, culture is an asset that can work in tandem with educational, economic, trade, financial and foreign policy to help us achieve our economic development goals, and expand our trade and international political influence.