Cultural diplomacy as a soft power tool in the 21st century. Case study of Poland, Ukraine, and Russia.

Abstract

Cultural diplomacy is a soft power tool and an element of public diplomacy, associated with a presentation and promotion of a country’s culture abroad in order to build long-term relationships with publics overseas, thus creating an enabling environment for such a country in international affairs. Since there is a lack of comprehensive academic research exploring conduct of cultural diplomacy in the Eastern European countries, this paper aims to present the notion and practical application of cultural diplomacy as a tool of non-coercive or soft power in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, utilizing such data collection methods as literature review and case study. While being principally similar in the structure of the legislative frameworks and usage of particular types of cultural diplomacy instruments, the three countries have different approaches when it comes to the definition of the basic terms used by the practitioners and academia, key narratives and messages being transmitted to the foreign publics, structure of the cultural diplomacy actors in terms of the inclusion of the non-governmental organizations and willingness of the state authorities to cooperate with foreign cultural institutions. Whether Polish, Ukrainian or Russian cultural diplomacy model is more efficient over the two others remains to be explored in further research, however the study of the cases in this dissertation shows an ability of each to deliver positive results when applied according to the specific political context of the bilateral relations.