ABSTRACT
This conclusion reiterates the connection and the distinction between public diplomacy and public relations as illustrated in the case of The Letter. This case study likens the two fields to a ‘couple’, that is, two equal parts of a whole, in which one part is composed of (a) foreign policy development and issues of national interest and the other part is (b) the strategic communication function around the diplomatic context, both working together in a symbiotic relationship. This suggests the need for a multi-part definition of public diplomacy that acknowledges the dual nature of the field as equally context plus communication to properly define and conceptualize the field, juxtaposing public relations and public diplomacy and creating a more accommodating scholarly landscape for existing literature, in which neither field is diminished.
