ABSTRACT
This chapter re-evaluates Leonard’s pyramid figure of objectives/impacts, which will then lead to researchers network model that reflects the shift, in both conceptualisation and conduct, of public diplomacy characterised by the proliferation of players with multiple aims and interests. The post-pandemic world has further complicated the environment, making it all the more important to re-evaluate Leonard’s hierarchy model, and to advance a new one to reflect and capture the changes in the changing diplomatic environment. Appropriate to the international diplomatic environment in the early 1990s, Leonard’s model represents a strong state-centric vision of public diplomacy, most probably as a consequence of realism, the dominant paradigm of international relations during that period. The model of collaboration between state and non-state actors utilises the Tai Chi symbol of yin and yang to show visually the variations of interests as well as inputs from the stakeholders.
