| This study assesses the debates surrounding Canada's public diplomacy campaign, specifically in relation to the United States of America, as articulated in the 1995 White Paper on foreign policy and reiterated in yearly departmental reviews and policy statements. Three conceptualizations of public diplomacy are explored; first, as an expected step in the evolution of modern diplomacy; second, as a technique to achieve a specific and limited policy goal; and, third, as a foreign policy communications strategy to create a three-dimensional image of a country. The attempt throughout is to ascertain whether Canada should increase its reliance on the tools and techniques of public diplomacy or whether the drawbacks of this new policy exceed the benefits it promises for Canada's ability to achieve its aims and goals in its economic and political relations with the United States. The third conceptualization, exemplified by the creation of the Washington Advocacy Secretariat, receives particular attention. |
