Culture as a Public Diplomacy Tool: The Case of Czech Republic After 1993

• • 
  • Presentation speakers
    • Eliska Tomalová, Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prague / Institute of International Relations, Prague

  Abstract:

  After twenty two years of its existence and twenty six years after the fall of the communist regime, Czech republic has still been seeking for an appropriate cultural and public diplomacy model. Despite many political declarations and reform initiatives that have been made during that period, cultural and public diplomacy have not been recognized as specific parts of Czech foreign policy agenda yet. In a broader sense, the Czech case can be seen as an example of building new public and cultural diplomacy strategies and capacities of a post-communist state. The paper addresses the topic from the perspective of cooperation and coordination of state and non-state actors (ministries, agencies, cultural institutes, etc.) in the field of cultural and public diplomacy. It also analyzes the content of the message Czech republic has been sending to foreign audiences through different public diplomacy channels. Special attention is given to cultural themes within public diplomacy and the coexistence of culture as a specific domain with other areas of public diplomacy (trade and invest policy, tourism, etc.). Last but not least, the paper answers the question: whether and how the Czech cultural and public diplomacy has been interacting with other countries in Europe and their public diplomacies (especially with V4 states) and if the prevalent paradigm of their relationships has rather been competition or cooperation.

 

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