“Public diplomacy” refers to a state’s strategy when engaging international audiences for the purpose of cultivating mutual understanding, trust, and ties, all while simultaneously shaping perspectives. Unlike traditional diplomacy, which operates through official negotiations via hard power, public diplomacy is implemented through soft power such as cultural diplomacy, mediation, and perception management. In international relations, strategic states like Norway, despite limitations on military force, have positioned themselves as intermediaries embodying “quiet diplomacy,” where soft power tools are leveraged to build gradual and lasting influence.

This approach can be seen in Afghanistan, a country confronting internal disarray, foreign interventions, and human rights violations. Norway has maintained sustained relevance in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, ultimately shifting the trajectory and reshaping calculations of the wider international community.

In essence, Norway was a neutral mediator that helped push for better prospects for Afghanistan through political influence, humanitarian dialogue, and financing. Yet, while it may build credibility through its careful efforts, there were outcomes that weren’t able to come into fruition, which underscored the structural limits of soft power and the confluence of local conditions, perception, and subtle subjugation, thereby leading to a multifaceted experience in a conflict-ridden state like Afghanistan.

Small States and Soft Power Mediation

Public diplomacy is akin to the engine of a state’s soft power, where attraction, ethics, and narratives are used to achieve policy outcomes and relational power. For smaller states, public diplomacy becomes more of a strategy to carve out a niche identity, leverage flexibility, and navigate power hierarchies. Due to being structurally weaker, their main assets arise through consistent credibility and impartiality. Within this framework, peace mediation is one key approach that involves the facilitation of talks between conflicting parties via a neutral intermediary.

This is to prevent misinformation and breakdown of order, making it beneficial for small states to maintain relevance in the international system, where dominant powers may be perceived as symbolic or having vested interests. By positioning themselves as dependable, they are able to convert their role into diplomatic capital. However, mediation is only conducive when........

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