Abstract:

Some of the discussions in political science and international relations have clustered around the impact of individuals and non-state actors, especially on how and how much they affect public diplomacy. As a result of the great and rapid change in information and communication technologies, and the growing importance of civil society, new public diplomacy has started to include non-state actors. Yet, the differences and disagreements among perspectives in public diplomacy, blurs the place of non-state actors in public diplomacy. This study, drawing attention to this ambiguity in the literature, examines the role of non-state actors, especially individuals, in the new public diplomacy with the use of social media. In this context, literature review and qualitative research method were applied. In the first part of the article, the change and transformation in the new understanding of public diplomacy and especially the effect of social media are emphasized. In the second part; attention has been drawn to the existence of non-state actors in the new public diplomacy and the importance of their changing and increasing roles over time. In conclusion, the study claims that if different perspectives are combined in a common view, the new public diplomacy will become both more understandable and more accurate, otherwise – if the uncertainty surrounding the place of non-state actors in public diplomacy continues- “the rise of a new academic field” will not be possible.

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