ABSTRACT
In some ways Australian public diplomacy is a terra nullus. In fields related to international relations, it is the research community within a country that usually shows the greatest interest in mapping out the terrain, staking claim to ontographies, definitions, and research priorities. From a research perspective, except for a few isolated studies, Australian public diplomacy is a somewhat empty field. On the other hand, if practice rather than research is the yardstick, the landscape is bustling with activity. However, research interest may be about to dawn over it, illuminating established practice in Australia. The spurs for similar awakening of interest in the United States have been the difficulty for the US in forming military coalitions with its allies and the ease with which Islamist terrorist networks recruit members, when there is a negative climate of public opinion towards the US in parts of the world.1 The Australian Senate has joined concerned sister parliamentary bodies in Britain and the United States by inquiring, in 2007, into public diplomacy.2 In so doing, it has opened up the frontiers of Australian public diplomacy; exploration should follow. Hopefully teams of researchers will now begin to stake their claims. This chapter is a “post Senate Inquiry” discussion of Australian public diplomacy, placing it in front of a holistic backdrop. It discusses a holistic diplomacy before looking at the Australian context of practice. Following this it explores the Senate Committee’s report and recommendations and maps out some possible areas for research.
