ABSTRACT
This chapter points to the concept of ‘soft power’ as opening the field of diplomacy to being further parsed into subsets such as corporate diplomacy, economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy, among others. Increasingly, non-state actors such as corporations, non-governmental organizations, non-profits organizations, individuals, civil institutions and state associations, among others, have been shown, through the process of ‘soft power’, to effect diplomatic outcomes, thus eroding the role of the ‘professional diplomat’ as the sole vehicle of diplomacy. Diplomatic processes, therefore, are no longer the sole domain of nation-states. Not only was The Letter seized upon by the United Kingdom Information Service to shore up its national image and promote positive relations with the Commonwealth, but the publication was also a tool of other forms of diplomacy. This chapter examines The Letter in the context of corporate diplomacy, with a further examination of the role of corporate social responsibility in corporate diplomacy in the Royal Bank of Canada context during the Bay of Pigs crisis.
