Становлення інституційних основ публічної дипломатії України

Abstract

Проаналізовано процес становлення інституційних засад публічної дипломатії України, виділено його проблеми та перспективи подальшого розвитку. Сьогодні інституційну основу публічної дипломатії України становить своєрідна «тріада» у вигляді Міністерства закордонних справ та його спеціалізованого Департаменту, Українського інституту та закордонних дипломатичних установ. Незважаючи на істотні здобутки в цій сфері, залишається низка невирішених проблем, частина яких пов’язана з майже повною відсутністю закордонних представництв Українського інституту, що зможуть суттєво посилити його контакти із цільовими групами іноземних країн.

The process of formation of the institutional foundations of public diplomacy of Ukraine has been analyzed, its problems and prospects for further development have been highlighted. Today, in the foreign and domestic professional environment, public diplomacy is understood as the system of communications between the country and foreign societies. Public diplomacy, which is traditionally considered one of the main tools of soft power, involves communication and interaction, first of all, of special institutions of one country with citizens of other countries in order to form a favorable public opinion, trust and mutual understanding. The first institutions that performed the functions of public diplomacy appeared in Ukraine in the early 2000s, although significant development of this sphere began after 2014. According to most researchers, the Revolution of Dignity and the state-building changes, that took place after it, provided a significant impetus for the further institutionalization of Ukraine's public diplomacy. At that time, the Ukrainian state, looking for effective mechanisms to overcome external threats, created new type institutions, the features of which were progressiveness, openness and transparency of activity. At the same time, an active civil society created non-governmental public diplomacy organizations in Ukraine. Today, the institutional basis of Ukraine's public diplomacy is a kind of "triad" in the form of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its specialized Department, the Ukrainian Institute, and foreign diplomatic institutions of the state. The mechanism of interaction and coordination of these, as well as partially other bodies related to public diplomacy, is spelled out in the relevant regulatory documents. Despite significant achievements, a number of unresolved problems remain today, some of which are related to the almost complete absence of foreign representative offices of the Ukrainian Institute, which could significantly strengthen its contacts with foreign audiences. In addition, for the consistent development of public diplomacy, this direction of foreign activity should be fixed in the basic legislation of Ukraine. Keywords: public diplomacy, Ukraine, soft power, institutional foundations, foreign policy.