In previous Culture Posts, I talked about the goal of developing an “in-awareness” approach to culture in public diplomacy. In the comments section, as well as other CPD posts, important observations have been raised about the challenges of cultural diplomacy. Developing a stronger “in-awareness” approach may be the key to designing and implementing rewarding cultural diplomacy initiatives.

In this post I discuss the idea of thinking about culture as a concrete noun as one way to develop awareness.

Culture as a Concrete Noun

Europe’s mastery of soft power seemed destined to eclipse military might in the post-Cold War age. The building of a continent “whole and free”...These days the European dream seems to be turning into a nightmare. The prospect of the euro’s collapse.

The film, “The Flowers of War...is Mr. Zhang’s take on the Nanjing Massacre. At the moment, no other cultural product or artist better embodies the hunger by the Chinese state and its citizens to create culture that can attract foreigners, bolstering China’s “soft power”...

There is now a huge demand in the international community for China's views on global issues, said Wang, adding that online discussions between senior Chinese diplomats and the general public are an example of the country's drive for policy transparency.

Greek TV channels realised that buying the glitzy tales of forbidden love... from long-standing regional rival Turkey, was cheaper than filming their own..."Greeks feel closer to Turks than they did," he told Reuters. "Sometimes soft power is more important than political power."

Mass media, in its different forms, has been used by the State to manufacture consent or create dissent in other countries. The former involves media management, the latter is more in the nature of psychological warfare used in peace time, indeed at all times, as an exercise of soft power.

These days, Soviet-style samizdat is doing the rounds at the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty. It is a press release on the letter to Croatian government by Snjezana Pelivan, a Croatian journalist living in Prague.

APDS Blogger: Jerry Edling