Dr. Phillip C Arceneaux to present at the ICA Conference - May 27-31, 2021

 

Public Diplomacy within the United Nations:
Ireland’s Campaign for a Security Council Seat
 

This study uses a strategic narrative analysis to investigate the storytelling discourse in Ireland’s public diplomacy campaign to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council. It dissects multiple public relations materials to ascertain what system, identity, and issue narratives were used to increase the storytelling effectiveness of the campaign. Results suggest Ireland stressed themes of empathy, partnership, and independence. System narratives stressed Ireland as a revisionist actor seeking to rebalance the UN toward more equal representation. Identity narratives highlighted Ireland as a small island-country whose past of economic hardship and struggle for independence drives its desire to help those in need. Issues narratives highlighted Ireland’s commitment to global peacekeeping, fighting climate change, and promoting humanitarian aid through gender equality, food security, and refugee assistance. Findings contributes to scholarship in the areas of public diplomacy, strategic narratives, and political public relations more broadly.

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