Citizen Diplomacy–New US Public Diplomacy Strategy in the Middle East under the Obama Administration

Abstract: In the information and digital era, the international situation is becoming increasingly complicated. The construction of international relations and national image depends more on people-to-people diplomacy. During the Obama Administration, the Administration recognized the central role of public diplomacy as a tool and an essential element of the 21st century statecraft. US public diplomacy and public affairs faces the five strategic tasks: to pro-actively shape global narratives, expand and strengthen people-to-people relationships, counter violent extremism and better inform policy-making as well as redeploy resources in strategic alignment with shifting priorities. It presents new features under the guidance of the perfect mechanism, such as using digital methods and social media as the core to communicate, adjusting information transmission and message control, emphasizing the inter-departmental coordination, attaching great importance to the youth and women’s groups and optimizing the evaluation mechanism. This article summarizes and analyzes the striking features of public diplomacy under Obama’s administration, focusing on citizen diplomacy operations in the Middle East, thus putting forth a worthy reference for the further study of China’s public diplomacy.