Positive and negative public diplomacy, new concepts to understand public diplomacy strategies in the Arab Gulf states

Mohammad Salman and Guy Burton

Third World Quarterly, 2025, vol. 46, issue 7, 755-772

Abstract: Public diplomacy may be understood as efforts by international actors to influence the international environment by appealing to foreign audiences. This paper suggests a particular approach, based on a conceptualisation that distinguishes between two principal forms: positive and negative forms of public diplomacy. To examine this, the paper explores the role of several increasingly important and influential Arab Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar) and their application of positive and negative forms of public diplomacy. To illustrate the different forms of public diplomacy and the variation that exists, the paper examines the response and reaction to the following cases: one, Israeli normalisation via the Abraham Accords; two, the intra-Gulf dispute between Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar and their outreach towards the American public in the initial stages in 2017 and in the run-up to its resolution in 2020–21; and three, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the negative response and reaction by some western countries. Given the importance of public diplomacy in international relations, this study not only contributes to the development of theoretical and methodological approaches to this concept but also provides systematic indications of the Arab Gulf states’ dynamics in the foreseeable future.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2025.2511876

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