Abstract

Soft power and Public Diplomacy became a buzz word in international politics. Despite the fact that the idea of soft power and Public Diplomacy has attracted considerable attention throughout the world, yet the concepts, actors, approaches and practices of both the dynamic concepts remained ambiguous. Public diplomacy, which carried the soft image of a nation, is somewhat naïve to majority of academia, diplomatic scholars and practitioners. Initially, the term Public Diplomacy was considered as the jurisdiction of state domain only, however with the increased number of international actors, the non-state actors legitimately played their role in the working of public diplomacy. This research work attempts to conceptualize Public Diplomacy and try to clarify different terms, methods and actors associated with Public Diplomacy. Further it tries to highlight challenges and prospects of the concept and related activities.