The Public Diplomacy of Federated Entities. Excavating the Quebec Model

No longer solely the playground of nation-states, the walls encircling public diplomacy are crumbling. Waiting in line are federated entities, hoping to further their international influence and quests for distinctiveness and self-affirmation. One can even state that by remaining unfettered to older less contemporary public diplomacy standards, federated entities could grant the predominant models novel insights for acclimating to changes in diplomatic practice. Yet treading off the beaten path is more problematic than systematically adjusting the prevailing models and run-of-the-mill state- and policy-centric methods.

While excavating the case of Quebec, which is busy creating a distinct profile for a more normative-oriented network model of public diplomacy, this paper aims to broach debate on issues surrounding the public diplomacy of federated entities, suggesting that in spite of significant discourse on its development, major reforms remain in the realm of fancy, and 'entrants' to the scene would also be well served to apprehend the worth of reducing the barriers to entry into public diplomacy.