The U.S Armed Forces As An Agent Of Public Diplomacy

This study explores the military engagement in public diplomacy particularly the U.S military. The US has constantly been looking into improving its public diplomacy, in order to further influence and engage foreign publics. Since the end of the cold war the need to influence decreased, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was spreading communism and the need to stop communism ideology from spreading decreased. The US however became a superpower and became strong in the context of military and economic dimensions. In recent times there has been a need to engage with foreign audiences. Public diplomacy is a strategy which is being incorporated to further influence. Military is relatively linked with hard power however the US has been engaging its military in public diplomacy strategy. This paper will try to examine the military in context of public diplomacy, the practices in influencing foreign audiences. A case study of U.S Africa Command will be conducted analyzing the intentions and consequences of this command. Giving an outline background of public diplomacy and the involvement of military. An overview of U.S military PD efforts. Finally an assessment of findings from the case study and a conclusion will be drawn based on the research.The main research question which this thesis tries to answer is: Why has the U.S. resorted to using its military as a substantial part of its public diplomacy strategy, and what have been the effects of these activities? While the Secondary questions include;- When did the process of using the U.S military as a substantial part of U.S public diplomacy begin?-What were the triggering events?-What forms has it taken?-How important are the efforts for U.S(military) policy makingThe hypothesis of this thesis is;- The process of the US resorting to using the military as a substantial part of its public diplomacy strategy has in large part been a consequence of the expansion of worldwide U.S military operations after the events of 9/11, which led to a further intensification of international suspicion and criticism of the role of its’ military, in particular. However, the effect of these military public diplomacy activities on the international perception of the U.S. armed forces has often been less pronounced and/or less positive than anticipated. The timeframe observed is,(1994-2014), this timeframe is significant to the research because it is when public diplomacy starts getting more recognition. Post-cold war to show the transition of public diplomacy and military engagement into public diplomacy. The events of 9/11 terror attacks setting a redirection in U.S national strategy and security.This thesis makes the following contributions: a) Examining military work as a tool for public diplomacy and shaping the image of the U.S. Driving national interests as well as influencing a foreign audience, while on military missions as well as the criticisms on U.S conduct of public diplomacy. b) More generally, it represents a contribution to the still rather limited range of scholarly studies on military public diplomacy.