Catalan public diplomacy, soft power, and noopolitik: A public relations approach to Catalonia's governance

Abstract

In this article, we provide a brief introduction to stateless nation-building and public diplomacy based on the case of Catalonia. On the basis of Manuel Castells' idea of informational society and the concepts of soft power of Joseph S. Nye, and noopolitik of John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, we show the rich contribution of these phenomena in understanding the theory and practice of public diplomacy of non-state actors, such as stateless nations, in order to build their national identity. Furthermore, when we talk about public diplomacy, soft power and noopolitik, we are talking about governance rather than government (diplomacy, hard power and realpolitik). Accordingly, we suggest that a noopolitikal model of public relations can contribute to effective governance for both public and private actors. Through some examples of the current policies in Catalonia, this article advances a public relations approach to governance.