Abstract

The author and co-editor of the second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy examines public diplomacy’s growth in the twenty-first century and what place its scholarship and practice has in the social sciences. The interactive dimension of diplomacy needs acceptance among what she calls the “big dogs” in political science and international relations, who tend to sideline the field as a persuasion tactic and theory deprived. While there is some truth in that criticism, public diplomacy must have a seat at the policy table in order to stretch the dialogue, offer building mutual understanding strategies, and contribute to a toolkit of nonviolent options of action.