Grand strategy and public diplomacy: A case study on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its reception in the Australian press

Abstract

This article examines China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a public diplomacy grand strategy at the macro-level of inter-state relations. It does so from the perspective of Australia, where the Andrews Labor government in the state of Victoria was, for a period, a signatory to the program. Specifically, this study uses content analysis to consider the reception of the BRI in the Australian press and the complex interactions of news values and ideologies that influenced its representation. This study shows that the effectiveness of the BRI as a grand strategy was undermined by the two interacting news cultures dominating media coverage in Australia, one of which stems from the liberal traditions of the press and the other from the conservative ideological proclivities of the Executive Chair of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch. In so doing, this study contributes to research on the different communication strategies mobilized by states in their geopolitical wrangling, as well as how contextual variables can pre-determine the success or failure of specific public diplomacy campaigns.