Public Diplomacy in a Multipolar World
Public diplomacy, and its sister concept, soft power, dominate much of the current academic debate about 21st century diplomacy. A major challenge for governments is how to develop effective public diplomacy, and optimize the use of their soft power, in a rapidly changing global environment. This course aims to help participants understand what public diplomacy is, how its practice has evolved over time and how the current challenges are being addressed. It will also examine a range of tools & techniques available to public diplomacy practitioners.
This on-line course aims to provide diplomats and public officials with an idea of the strategic significance of public diplomacy in the past and future. The crucial project steps of campaigns, media relations and other public diplomacy tools are analysed, discussed and summarised in a very practice oriented manner. Legal and human resource questions complement the material in order to be applicable in many environments.
At the end of the course, participants should be able to:
- Define and discuss the basic concepts of public diplomacy and how its practice is evolving;
- Explain the distinction between public diplomacy and related activities such as nation branding, propaganda, cultural relations, public relations and lobbying;
- Demonstrate knowledge of the skills and techniques required by public diplomacy practitioners vis-à-vis the media and other stakeholders;
- Design strategic media plans and public diplomacy campaigns by using modern and conventional public diplomacy tools.
The course includes four interactive training modules, defined as follows:
• Module 1:Introduction to Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century
• Module 2: Tools and Techniques of Public Diplomacy
• Module 3: Public Diplomacy Campaigns and Evaluation
• Module 4: Exchange of Best Practice in Public Diplomacy
The estimated learning time is 40 hours.
The course will be conducted in English over a period of four weeks, each week consisting of a module focusing on a different topic. The course will be delivered via UNITAR’s e-Learning platform. This pedagogical tool will help the student meet the course’s learning objectives through a self-paced study routine supported by multimedia, optional and required readings, discussion forums, assessment quizzes, and a wealth of other information.
The course is designed for mid to senior-level government officers in ministries preparing public diplomacy strategies and tools on a variety of topics. It also targets entry-level and mid-career diplomats working in a multilateral setting. Private sector specialists and students whose work or studies are related to this subject are also encouraged to apply.
We highly recommend credit card payments. The course participation fee is 600 USD. Participants from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are eligible to apply for a fellowship. Please contact the Multilateral Diplomacy Programme for more details. Registration will be closed as soon as the course is full and your place will be secured once your payment is confirmed.
Information about dates, registration and fees are available on http://www.unitar.org/event/by/mdp
General Requirements
- Have a good command of the English language
- Be computer literate
Technical Requirements
UNITAR recommends the following as a minimum in hardware and software to take our e-Learning courses. Please consult your Network Administrator or Systems person to ensure that you have the following:
- Platform: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, XP or superior; MacOS 9 or MacOS X; Linux
- Hardware: 64 MB of RAM, 1 GB of free disk space
- Software:
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (click here to download for free)
- Adobe Flash Player (click here to download for free)
- Microsoft Office (Windows or Mac) or Open Office (click here to download for free)
- Browser: Internet Explorer 7 or higher (click here to download for free); it works better with Firefox 3.6 or higher (click here to download for free)
- Note that JavaScript, Cookies and Pop-ups must be enabled