Tool selection for public diplomacy flagships: toward an adaptive model

The evolving relationship between nation-states and sub-national actors makes public policy a meaningful inside-out approach in public diplomacy (PD) research. This multi-level participation and complexity have also drawn attention to “flagship” as a particular mechanism that systematically coordinates and manages PD activities. Public diplomacy flagship, such as the Fulbright Program and the British Council, is an orchestra of various programs that serves the national agenda as well as personal and organizational goals. Yet, we seem to know little about the decision-making process of why the programs are selected and how they are fitted into a flagship. This article attempts to address this question from a public policy perspective. Viewing PD activities in various kinds as “tool options,” this article presents an adaptive model of tool selection to unpack the decision-making in public diplomacy flagships. Acknowledging the influence of human factors and the risk of over-generalization, the model aims to present one possibility among many and focus on the underlying relationships between the tools and their roles in a flagship. With examples from the Fulbright Program, the British Council, and Confucius Institute, this article explains how different users can adapt the model for their analytical, evaluative, and comparative purposes.