Public Diplomacy

Public diplomacy can be seen as a strategy of building bridges of ideas, images and cultural practices by altering the concept of predictive perceptions of the public in foreign country. In the world of new technology ideas, governments through various agencies, groups and individuals engage the foreign public to question their understanding and grievances towards a particular country. During his visit to Egypt, President Barak Obama directly addressed the students of Cairo University as part of his public diplomacy to the Muslim world. This approach was designed to show the consistency of America’s values and mutual respect to the public but also, to create a war of ideas that undermine those who are hostile to United States America.
In Ghana, President Barak Obama used public diplomacy to promote Americas’ democracy and values by encouraging the young people follow the right path.
The concept of public diplomacy is becoming influential to post conflict states. In sub Saharan Africa, there are a growing number of countries such as Angola, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya rebranding their images through government sponsored organisations and media (CNN) to inform, engage and influence the public in foreign countries – with the expectation of developing their economies through inward investments and tourism. Nigerian goverment set up a department to over see that campaign and make sure that Ctizens in foreign countries took different views of the perceptions they had about the country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/10/091021_rebranding_nigeria.shtml