Reconstructing India’s Identity in World Politics: An Emerging Convergence between Public Diplomacy and Constructivism

Abstract

Public diplomacy has become one of the most significant instruments of foreign policy since the operation of international relations has become more public, and the public, in turn, has become more involved. While challenging the importance of material power in achieving various political outcomes, Public Diplomacy (PD) offers an alternative model of practice that enables an understanding of the normative or ideational structures that help in determining audience identities. It furthers our knowledge of international relations by engaging in shared understandings of this inter subjective dimension, mainly through social interaction and interplay. Here lies the convergence between public diplomacy and social constructivism. In defining PD, Bruce Gregory (an expert in PD and foreign affairs) suggests that PD is ‘the means by which states, associates of states and non state actors understand cultures , attitudes and behaviour, build and manage relationships; and influence opinions and actions to advance their interests and values.When a country seeks to achieve objectives and set targets, realize values, or defend interests, it must express, exchange and share its views and ideas with those whose actions and behaviour they wish to alter, deter, or reinforce. Such an interaction may vary from vividly defining the government’s objectives, and the various ways to realize them especially with regard to concluding agreements on contentious issues. The constructivists place IR and public diplomacy in the context of broader social relations. They lay emphasis on how state’s interests and identities are shaped by rule-governed (or norm-governed) interactions. In brief, the theory points out how norms influence state interests and behaviour. Thus, as rightly pointed out by Joshua Goldstein (an international relations expert), the state’s conception of interests, its presentation of itself on the international stage, and its behaviour all might change as a result of inter-state interactions. States, according to this view, come to see themselves as others see them quite similar to the general human tendency. The present article analyses the ways in which constructivist theories of international relations can inform public diplomacy practice. The paper draws on India’s approach to diplomacy and the significance of a virtual convergence between public diplomacy and constructivism in reshaping India’s identity in world politics.