Research 2006
Meaning in Global Politics
and International Relations
Samantha Arnold
Assistant Professor, Politics
A student backpacks through Europe. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet tours Germany. An academic researcher exchanges with a researcher from Russia. As modest as these global activities seem, they are acts of international Canadian public diplomacy.
“Canada is a country without a lot of influence, without a lot of power in traditional terms,” says Assistant Professor Samantha Arnold. “All we have is a positive image internationally. So you can look at public diplomacy as a way to cultivate a particular ‘brand’ of Canada.”
Arnold studies how Canadian public diplomacy activities, such as cultural exchanges, affect how the world views Canada and how these views and sympathies are leveraged by Canada to influence global politics.
“Canada the peacemaker. Canada the human rights advocate. Canada the country behind equal access to AIDS drugs. It’s about representing Canada in a particular way to make certain outcomes,” says Arnold.
Recently, Arnold collaborated with Canadian colleagues to study Canadian diplomacy in Germany. Research on diplomacy in Russia, America, and Japan are next, as are international collaborations to compare the effectiveness of public diplomacy strategies used by other countries.
The foundation of Arnold’s research is the study of the politics of “meaning.” What does it mean to be Canadian? How does that meaning make certain politics possible?
“The way you attach meanings in global politics, and in our daily lives as well, isn’t neutral. There’s an agenda being served,” says Arnold.
In addition to studying public diplomacy, Arnold also studies how the meanings of images affect global politics. For example, an image of an Iraqi soldier crying for a dead child conveys different meaning and opens different political possibilities than images that portray Iraqi soldiers as heartless.
Through her teaching, Arnold encourages her students to take part in international diplomacy through government-sponsored public diplomacy e-discussions. She also facilitates international student exchanges.
Says Arnold, “The students start to understand that the government has an interest in what they think. They realize ‘I actually have a stake in this, I’m part of the process.’”
To learn more about her research on Canada’s role in global politics, contact University of Winnipeg faculty member Samantha Arnold at s.arnold@uwinnipeg.ca