Can nation branding be successful tool for the practice of public diplomacy? A Maltese case study

Abstract

This article asks whether nation branding can be a successful tool in achieving public diplomacy goals using the recent experience of Malta in the field of cultural diplomacy as a case study. The approach of the small island state towards developing nation branding in order to address public diplomacy aims through politics, public relations and culture is assessed. This analysis is carried out in the framework of the occurrence of a series of international events the country has been preparing to organize and celebrate. These include its participation at the EXPO in Milan in 2015, the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the same year, presiding over the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2017 and hosting the European Capital of Culture in Valletta in 2018. The increased attention Malta has given to nation branding in order to support its practice of public diplomacy will be reviewed in relation to that of its international relations since Independence in 1964 and its adhesion to the EU in 2004.