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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

DEAF IS DUMB – WHY LISTENING IS POWERFUL
FEB 18, 2009 - 3:56AM PST
Posted by John Worne
All posts by this author

The British Council announced at the start of February, that we have had to suspend our operations in Iran. A sad day for the British Council, and also for tens of thousands of Iranians who have engaged with our cultural and education programmes in recent years. So far so uncontroversial. However, let’s not forget the deeper loss – the loss to the people of the UK. It’s easy to think of public diplomacy as being one way – we give to (or often tell) them. The central premise of cultural relations, and I think the ‘smarter’ versions of public diplomacy is we listen to and engage as equals with them. Listening is the single most influential thing a person can do. It builds trust, engagement and the platform for discussion, negotiation and informed disagreement. It also enables people to begin to work together effectively and know what they share and what they don’t. So who are the biggest losers from the British Council’s exit from Iran? I believe not only the people of the UK, but also the wider global community and anyone who values open societies. What are we losing? The potential to better understand one of the richest cultures and histories of central Asia (although, fortunately, another part of the UK’s cultural sector is keeping some links alive). We have lost ground in educational ties which help to ensure the unbeatable diversity of school, further and higher education in the UK – and the huge economic benefits that it brings us and others. We have gone backwards on climate change, a world problem, which UK scientific and technical expertise was helping Iranian scientists, planners and municipal leaders to tackle. But on a personal level, what I and many others have lost is our access to a better understanding of a great country which figures in most people’s list of countries that matter in the world today. When I met our Iranian Country Director last year, he told me of a cosmopolitan nation, with a burgeoning middle class, which looks out at its region and the world with aspirations of modernity, growth and development. He told me of a country with a thriving parliamentary democracy, with genuinely plural institutions where citizens exert real influence over their representatives and leaders. He told me also of a country that loves its sport – especially weight lifting, wrestling and of course soccer (or football depending on where you live). I have spoken to dozens of people about this conversation – these were not my preconceptions of Iran, a country I’ve not personally visited. Every person in the UK I have spoken to has been surprised by this description. Their assumptions are commonly that Iran is peopled by an extreme, sabre-rattling population led by an authoritarian religious dictatorship. Very wrong and fed by a news media which often wants to run stories that feed that perception. In losing the chance to learn about a rich and vibrant culture and the chance to share…... FULL TEXT
 
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Nick Cull on February 19, 2009 @ 1:18 am:
A terrific post John, which highlights what both Iran and Britain are loosing. Ironically I think that the problems of conducting cultural diplomacy in Iran and last year's troubles for the British Council in Russia are both proof of the need for cultural diplomacy and a testament to the power of cultural diplomacy. I just wish the Irans and Russias of this world would show their understanding of the power of cultural diplomacy by opening more channels for conversation and mutual understanding rather than closing them down.

AK on February 19, 2009 @ 1:25 am:
It is really unfortunate that even now many people have not got it. Calling Public Diplomacy dumb is the dumbest thing one can ever do.
They have not realised the power that perception leverages. All the young muslims world over, who take to the violent and mindless missions which their so called leadership urges them to take on, have a buy-in into the plans simply because their ‘perception’ has been managed thus. And yet, the so-called free thinking world is unable to see the power of Public Diplomacy, which has a lot do with ‘Perception Management’.
Whether the British Council is wrong or right can be a matter of debate, but any organization, for whatever reasons, if is trying to keep public diplomacy at its heart will make some imapct, sooner or later, and deserves all the support for it.

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