Public and cultural diplomacy in European cities and states’ branding

Article “Public and cultural diplomacy in cities’ branding” is a try to set ideas of city diplomacy and idea of branding into theory of international relations. Also, analysis of two West-European and two East-European cities is a chance to analyze chances and threats that both states and cities can encounter during a process of brand building. The main questions that article is answering are “Can cities use their resources and connections to make public and cultural diplomacy?” and “What influence on that process has factor of being a city in post-soviet country or former Soviet Satellite state?” It can be said that cities are able to brand and rebrand itself and they are more flexible than states that cannot run away from some aspects of its identity. In case of difference between western and post-soviet states, the difference is none. In research, numerous rankings, articles and analyses were used as a primary sources in order to characterize how different are images of Italy, Germany, Hungary and Ukraine. Also, paper tries to determine, what is relation between states brand and branding of its cities.

Since December 2019, the Pact of Free Cities, founded by the mayors of the Visegrád capitals, has expressed the dire wish not to be held hostage for their national governments’ disrespect for the rule of law. Being cut off from financial support out of political intentions, they lobby for direct EU support. The article explores the dynamics of this initiative, its strategies to reach out to European institutions and their resonance, as well as the meaning of the Pact’s city diplomacy from a democratic theory perspective. The analysis of various documents published by the Pact of Free Cities shows how it combines its efforts to promote democracy, the rule of law and sustainable policies by engaging on the EU level. The Pact developed a distinct type of urban experimentalism that established a new link between the European and the city level.

The paper’s main objective is to determine whether the New Hansa is a form of the Politics of Memory for cities. In the paper, the author proposes a definition of the Politics of Memory and analyses the characteristics of the medieval and modern Hansa. Separate sections analyse the old and new Hansa, and describe the discussion on the Politics of Memory in the context of paradiplomacy, especially city diplomacy. Altogether, these reflections lead to comparisons of the organisations and conclusions about the selective nature of the New Hansa in relation to its legendary predecessor. Nevertheless, the New Hansa has specific core features – such as the deliberate use of legacy, brand-oriented actions and education – that make this urban network an excellent example of the Politics of Memory implemented by municipal governments.