Public Diplomacy at Home in the UK: Engaging Diasporas and Preventing Terrorism

Abstract:

Not every foreign ministry communicates with its home audience. For some it is unconstitutional; for many it serves no purpose.

But for multicultural and particularly former colonial powers, communicating with the home audience has the potential to be a vital tool for engagement, especially as the boundaries between domestic and international are blurred by international travel, migration and global connectivity.

This article examines ‘public diplomacy at home’ in the United Kingdom, both as a general policy of the last Labour government and more specifically in the context of initiatives to tackle Islamist terrorism.

In terms of the latter, it explores the strengths and limitations of both faith-based approaches to outreach to Muslim communities and a country-based approach to outreach, using Pakistan as a case study.