<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper focuses on the public diplomacy (PD) practices of the EU-a supranational regional organisation confronted with two distinct challenges. First, the EU aims to reform its external action in order to become a global power and leader in the changing multipolar world. Second, it purports to fight the ongoing economic crisis that not only weakens the actual global capabilities of the EU, but damages its international image and reputation as a power and a leader. The paper assumes the potential of EU PD tools in meeting these challenges and tests this assumption in one case study of international public opinion on the EU in its immediate neighbourhood (Ukraine). Importantly, the study confronts an additional challenge: EU PD is described in the relevant literature to be a disjointed, under-resourced and overlooked policy area.</p></abstract>

This paper focuses on the public diplomacy (PD) practices of the EU-a supranational regional organisation confronted with two distinct challenges. First, the EU aims to reform its external action in order to become a global power and leader in the changing multipolar world. Second, it purports to fight the ongoing economic crisis that not only weakens the actual global capabilities of the EU, but damages its international image and reputation as a power and a leader. The paper assumes the potential of EU PD tools in meeting these challenges and tests this assumption in one case study of international public opinion on the EU in its immediate neighbourhood (Ukraine). Importantly, the study confronts an additional challenge: EU PD is described in the relevant literature to be a disjointed, under-resourced and overlooked policy area.

The EU in the Eyes of Ukrainian General Public: Potential for EU Public Diplomacy?

National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury Kirkwood Village KD04, Christchurch, New Zealand

Department of International Relations, Tallinn University of Technology Akadeemia tee 3, Tallinn 12618, Estonia

TalTech Journal of European Studies

This paper focuses on the public diplomacy (PD) practices of the EU-a supranational regional organisation confronted with two distinct challenges. First, the...

The EU in the Eyes of Ukrainian General Public: Potential for EU Public Diplomacy?

Published Online: Oct 23, 2013

Page range: 68 - 95

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjes-2013-0014

This content is open access.