Conceptualization of Public Diplomacy in the Constructivist Paradigm

Abstract

In this article the author based on the results of his research makes an attempt to conceptualize public diplo-macy through the prism of the constructivist paradigm, one of the main ones in the science of international rela-tions. The author explains the low demand for the recognized paradigms of international relations research in the analysis of public diplomacy (the emphasis on states in the paradigms and the practical orientation of most studies of public diplomacy); reviews the central tenets of constructivism (the priority of social factors and the subjective nature of the international system) and the works in which it serves as a methodological platform. The author comes to the conclusion that in constructivism public diplomacy is interpreted as a means of form-ing, maintaining and adjusting the image of a particular state in the international arena. Its substantive, spatio-temporal and organizational aspects, if we adhere to constructivism, depend on the identity and roles of the actor who develops and implements it.