Following a conflict, whether it be brought on internally or externally, a nation-state must begin to build community, institutions (political, economic and social), housing and businesses to join geopolitical dialogues and the global market economy. But, how does a nation do this without transmitting the conflict down through generations or alienating parts of their population, leaving an opening for continued conflict? The Society of Public Diplomats’ conference will examine six countries, in various geographic regions, to discuss methods used to reconstruct a country’s national identity that has been previously branded by war and the role public diplomacy plays in recasting that image globally.

Panels will include:

• Collective Remembering: Explore the collective historical memory of conflict and its effects on societies, and how memory and national identity are symbiotic.
• Moving Forward, Constructing a New Identity: Examining how recent post-conflict countries and deeply divided societies move past conflicts to reconstruct their national identity and how they work through traumatic, conflict-ridden pasts to mend their social fabric.
• Identity Transcending Borders: The importance of placing public diplomacy at the heart of the rebranding and the restructuring process to reassert post-conflict countries’ presence in the international arena.

This event is sponsored by USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Masters of Public Diplomacy program, USC Center for Public Diplomacy and USC Graduate Student Government.

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