“Military Public Diplomacy” as a Strategic Tool in International Relations

Özet

This paper is intended to explore and analyze how military public diplomacy can be considered as an effective strategic tool in order to escalate or fade-away international crisis and tensions while developing a broader understanding in the field of international relations by emphasizing the strategic importance of military public diplomacy. This problematic puts forth important issues such as how military elements can be used in interstate communication, building trust, protecting national interests and playing a role in ensuring peace at the international level. States that have experienced constant disharmony and failure in their relations with the international community have turned to public diplomacy as a way to achieve success in international relations. Public diplomacy is becoming an area that can be adapted to every field with the continuation of the globalization process. Because military power elements are important for the security of a country, the concept of power has begun to adopt the use of soft power and smart power in addition to strict rules. Accordingly, military public diplomacy appears to be used as a strategic tool in international relations regarding various international crisis and conflicts. This is because this new type of diplomacy aims to shape international relations by using countries’ military power. Indeed, military power can affect the balance between countries and serve the purpose of protecting and developing a country’s interests. However, in order for military public diplomacy to be effective, it must be used in an integrated manner with other diplomatic tools. Thus, military public diplomacy can be an effective method in establishing trust between countries and resolving conflicts. Because it should not be forgotten that in addition to military force activities, strategic communication activities also play a major role in establishing trust between countries.