When an Efficient Use of Strategic Communication (Public Diplomacy and Public Relations) to Internationalize a Domestic Conflict Is Not Enough to Gain International Political Support: The Catalan Case (2012-2017)

Abstract

ABSTRACT One of the main goals of the Catalan nationalist movement toward independence initiated in 2012 was to internationalize the conflict between, in theory, two sides: Catalonia and Spain. In the case of Catalonia, its storytelling tried to offer to the world the view of an entire society intensely mobilized in pro of freedom and independence by peaceful methods, while Spain would be incarnated in an elitist irreducible and defensive government closed to reason and negotiation. This article describes the use of strategic communication (mainly public diplomacy and public relations), a soft power and post-modern resource, by the pro-independence movement in opposition to the use of modern and hard power means by Spain’s government (including appeal to courts, police, and financial pressure, among other means). It describes the efficient use of strategic communication, including para-diplomacy efforts as well as positive press coverage and even “fake news”, by the Catalan pro-independence movement. Nonetheless, the movement was not able to gain the political support of supra-national organizations like the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) or even some major powers such as Germany, which had supported other independence processes in the past. The conclusion is that an efficient use of strategic communication seems to have its limits in the internationalization of internal conflicts and in altering the political status quo when the threatened nation state, in this case Spain, has a solid international position and good democratic credentials.