Winning Hearts and Minds

The following sections are included:

• Contents
• Foreword

In February 2020, the MS Westerdam faced a sudden crisis at sea. There were fears that someone on board the cruise ship, which was enroute to Japan from Hong Kong, had contracted the novel coronavirus that would eventually come to be known as COVID-19…

As a modern political entity in international relations, Singapore had to be invented. It is a 55-year-old, imagined nation-state since it has by and large communicated its political, economic and social causes successfully (Chew, 1991). However, this creation of Singapore through the vigour of communication did not always emanate from a state. This much must be understood if one were to understand public diplomacy and its connections to Singaporean nationhood and statehood.

For any country, public diplomacy is crucial and intrinsic to enabling understanding and building trust across borders, as well as raising the country’s profile abroad. For a small country like Brunei Darussalam with a population of under half a million, public diplomacy is all the more essential for us to enter the global public discussion and to be heard…

Cambodia is transitioning to modern diplomacy by integrating economic and cultural diplomacy into its traditional diplomacy, which focuses on peace, security, national sovereignty and independence. The Economic Diplomacy Strategy (2021-2023), launched in early 2021, intends to coordinate government agencies and build capacity for Cambodian diplomats and relevant stakeholders to promote trade, investment and tourism. Economic diplomacy is also aimed at diversifying economic partners and the sources of growth…

In Indonesia’s foreign policy, some things remain the same while others change. I would say that the one thing that has changed the most is in the realm of public diplomacy. The attention to optics in the execution of Indonesia’s foreign policy today is arguably the highest ever…

This essay discusses Laos’ diplomacy and engagement in the international arena, with a focus on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the premier regional cooperation body. Drawing on the upcoming book, Small Countries, Big Diplomacy: Laos at the UN, ASEAN and MRC (Kittikhoun & Kittikhoun, 2021 in press), the first part of the essay deals with the role of Laos during its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2016, in which the country made efforts to facilitate and broker agreements among ASEAN members and the great powers on the South China Sea – a highly sensitive and contentious issue of global concern…

If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated, it is that no nation-state is able to address this global issue by itself. Instead, states have had to cooperate with other states as well as with non-state actors such as multinational corporations and civil society. In this context, public diplomacy plays an ever more critical role in building trust and cooperation between the public and states. While Malaysia has punched above its weight to become a middle power through formal diplomacy, its public diplomacy efforts can be enhanced…

Governments around the globe employ some form of public diplomacy as a strategy to boost their country’s, and by extension the ruling party’s, image and credibility as competent and capable participants in international cooperation and collaboration. National interest, particularly the interest to survive and thrive in a competitive global environment, lies at the core of even the most innocuous and unassuming of public diplomacy efforts…

Public diplomacy in the Philippines is primarily the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), evolving from providing public information services to one that is integral to the whole machinery of foreign affairs and diplomacy. It now involves managing domestic public concerns, sending signals to foreign governments, and including non-government tracks in policy discussions. Each is replete with issues that need to be handled carefully…

Public diplomacy has gained a great deal of attention from both academia and practitioners these days as a foreign policy tool to inform and influence foreign publics. However, a plethora of scholarship focuses on the European and American regions. This article, therefore, narrows the gap in literature by analysing Thailand’s public diplomacy…

While the concept of public diplomacy is a 20th century product, the practice of influencing foreign publics could be traced back millennia. The practice certainly has never been foreign to former Southeast Asian kingdoms and polities or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) members. After all, cultural exchange and psychological warfare have been part of public outreach for centuries…

In our interconnected world, there are two pragmatic principles that are critical for nations – big or small – to survive and thrive. One is upholding the international rule of law. The other is building strong international relations, trust and friendships at all levels and across all sectors. This cross-country and cross-cultural relationship building is not just between governments, but also between individuals, groups and organisations. Indeed, making friends and strengthening peopleto-people relations across borders build global communities. It lays the foundation for constructive collaboration and co-creation of solutions to enhance individual and societal well-being, and progress towards a better world…