Public Diplomacy In National Grand Strategy: The Case Of Ethiopia In The Creation Of The Organization Of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU) In 1963

The paper examines Ethiopia’s public diplomacy practice at the level of grand strategy with a special reference to its role in the formation of the Organization of African Unity(OAU) in 1963. It starts with the definitional and conceptual review of the two concepts including grand strategy and public diplomacy defining the relationship of the two with the concept of geodiplomatics, that is, the employment of diplomacy as an international policy instrument in the statesmen’s theory and story of how states operate in world politics. The paper then reports a case study of Ethiopia’s public diplomacy experience from the perspectives of applying grand strategy and three categories of analysis: representational, reputational and institutional approaches of public diplomacy. Based on this framework, the paper looks into the application of Ethiopia’s public diplomacy in its initiative towards the creation of the OAU(1958-1963); and reveals the strategic integration of public diplomacy with other dimensions of Ethiopia’s grand strategy.Foreign Minister Ketema Yifru emerged as an African and Ethiopian international policy entrepreneur and interpreter, envisaging an inspiring vision of building and embracing a new and united Africa through his new theory of grand strategy: a Pan African Geodiplomatics. This new grand strategic thought prioritized diplomacy as a core factor and power base in the management of the continental strategic nexus in the run up towards the creation of the OAU. Diplomacy calculated as a pathway towards the creation of a united African front comprised the strategy of incorporating creative schemers and strategists in that project of African unity and freedom. Strategically, the Pan Africa Geodiplomatics employed a more inclusive and united African group stratagem in the face of the forces and strategies of disintegration and division in the continent. The stratagem guided by Pan-African philosophy and African history, Ethiopia’s historical experience and theoretical approaches along with the skilled diplomats helped Africans set up the OAU and endorse its Charter in Addis Ababa. Strategically entwined with other arts of Ethiopia’s new concept of grand strategy, public diplomacy found expression through the development and application of reputational, institutional and representational dimensions of soft power. The successful integration of public diplomacy with other dimensions of the grand strategy helped Ethiopian strategists become authors of the Charter of the OAU and originators of the OAU defining their security with that of AfricaDespite the hegemonic status of the West in applying the perspectives of public diplomacy in grand strategic terms, the paper advances the argument that Ethiopian diplomats have taken up those perspectives to position their country in the larger international system. The success of Ethiopia’s strategic thinking and approaches in the formation of the OAU amplified the application of public diplomacy integrated with other arts of an integrated grand strategy. Along with other arts of statecraft, the paper reveals the importance of giving strategic attention to the practice of public diplomacy in its broadest sense.