Propaganda or Public Diplomacy--What's the Difference?

The opening class discussions and readings have been about the differences between propaganda and public diplomacy. Over the years each term has been defined in various way, which link them both to be one in the same or to be completely different things. The bottom-line being that both public diplomacy and propaganda are created with the intention to transmit a certain message in order to alter or influence the opinion or ideas of the target audience, but in different ways.

The idea that the Beijing opening ceremonies were propaganda was intriguing because prior to this class I had never thought of them in that manner but after watching the Nazi propaganda movie and the opening ceremony clip, the similarities were startling. When I watched the first time I was just in awe of the beauty and precision of the spectacle, thus their propagandistic show worked on me temporarily, but not entirely. The opening ceremony did not mask their human rights violations, but it made some forget about them and it showcased their organizational skills. Our class categorized the opening ceremony as propaganda because it had an aggressive militaristic feel and the Chinese had obvious goals that they were trying to accomplish by this great show. Some would disagree with that classification and say it was just a public diplomacy effort to showcase Chinese culture.

So what is the difference between propaganda and public diplomacy? Is it just merely that propaganda has a negative connotation? According to Doob, cited in the Black reading, defined propaganda “as an attempt to affect the personalities and to control the behavior of individuals…”, which suggests that there is an element of mind control that is not present in public diplomacy. In the Van Ham reading, Bruce Gregory gives a good definition of public diplomacy, he states is a means by which a state or non state actors understand cultures, expand, manage and build relationships, which sounds much more benign than propaganda. But what really is the difference? From what I have read and experienced public diplomacy is a tool that nations use to educate others about their country and culture through engagement, which is distinct from propaganda because public diplomacy engages people in a positive way for a positive purpose.