Public diplomacy by other means: a constructivist view of U.S. military messages in Polish news outlets
Date
2018
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
The United States military’s global presence presents a unique opportunity to engage
foreign publics in pursuit of foreign policy objectives. This thesis identifies the message
the U.S. military seeks to convey to Poland through public diplomacy activities, and how
this message is perceived in Polish news outlets. This case also creates linkage between the
military and public diplomacy, an actor and a strategy that can seem contradictory.
Through interviews with government officials and the application of a two-step
methodology of content and qualitative discourse analyses to Polish news articles, this
thesis finds that Polish news outlets favorably perceive U.S. military public diplomacy, and
that the message of reassurance and deterrence is conveyed through the activities. The
military and public diplomacy are compatible in practice and the combination can result in
an effective strategy to communicate with foreign audiences. By applying constructivist
assertions to concepts of perception and soft power that traditionally fit into other
theoretical fields, this thesis contributes to the development of military public diplomacy as
a salient academic topic that can offer insight into future cases of militaries conducting
public diplomacy.