Second Report of Session 2010–11
House of Commons
Foreign Affairs Committee
For London, the year 2012 is expected to be the year of new opportunities and, among others, also a chance to enhance nation-branding and improve public diplomacy. The aim of this report[1] is to emphasize the importance of the Olympics in London for enhancing the UK’s reputation.
The report consists of a summary, conclusions and recommendations and three chapters. The first chapter is an ‘Introduction’, the second chapter is ‘Public Diplomacy and the UK’, and the third chapter is ‘The FCO’s strategy for the 2012 Olympics’.
The first chapter introduces the following chapters, which are the core of this report. The second chapter firstly defines two concepts, public diplomacy and soft power. The consensus on what is public diplomacy has never been reached among scholars or governments, and therefore everyone understands it differently. And therefore, it is interesting that the definition of public diplomacy in this report is the definition provided by the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, not a definition provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which on their website defines public diplomacy as “a process of achieving the UK’s international strategic priorities through engaging and forming partnerships with like-minded organisations and individuals in the public arena”.[2] Further on, the report shows the importance of nation-branding as part of the UK’s public diplomacy. It discusses the research done by the FCO, in which the UK’s perception was viewed as positive abroad. However, even the written evidence at the end of the report fails to provide important information about the research, such as location of research, the age group, ethnicities, and other variables which can play significant role when doing any research. Learning lessons from other countries which held the major sporting events, is another part of the report. This part is very important, because learning from the past experience can help the 2012 Olympics to enhance the UK’s reputation to its full potential. Although the report mainly emphasizes the fact that big sporting events were mostly successful, it also shows the possibly negative impact of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. However, the report fails to provide any specific information regarding negative experience that the Olympics 2012 should try to avoid in order to secure positive impression of this sport event among people.
The third chapter focuses on the FCO’s strategy for the 2012 Olympics. The objectives of the Olympics campaign are stated very clearly. However, there are no further steps explained about how they should be approached and what tools should be used to achieve those objectives. Further on, the campaign and its funding are explained. The campaign seems to be very well planned, although all the mentioned aspects of it seem to be only in English language, which may be a disadvantage for those, who do not speak English. Nation-branding as such should be approached from every angle, and maybe the Olympics 2012 may be a step for some to be influenced by the UK’s image and then start to learn English. Further on, the report explains how the Olympics 2012 should be approached environmentally friendly, and therefore this green approach is a great way to promote not only ‘green UK’, but also more environmentally friendly approach as such, which those who will attend the Olympics have not known before. The end of the chapter three briefly mentions potential risks and negative image that could come out as a result of the Olympics. This is important sub-part, because the FCO needs to be aware of the fact that not everything may go the right direction.
To conclude, this report is a good presentation of the campaign and aim that the FCO wants to achieve by hosting the 2012 Olympics in London, which hopefully will become a great tool for nation-branding of the UK, not only London.
[1] Parliament UK. FCO Public Diplomacy: The Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012. [Online]. 26 January 2011. Available from: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmfaff/581/581.pdf. [Accessed 17 May, 2011]
[2] Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Global Issues. Available from: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/public-diplomacy/. [Accessed 17 May, 2011]
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