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comprehensive vision. Indeed



COUNTRY IMAGE MANAGEMENT - ELEMENT OF NATIONAL
SECURITY STRATEGY


Dumitru BORUN

National School oI Political Studies and Administration / The Romanian Association oI Public Relations
ProIessionals (ARRP)


Abstract: Post-industrial societv is a 'devalued` societv, where great ideologies do not have a decisive
impact on public area. thev are no longer participating in the legitimacv of individuals, groups,
organi:ations or states. The need for legitimacv cannot be satisfied even in science, since cultural
relativism undermines the idea of "obfective realitv", post-positivist epistemologv defines knowledge as
"social product", and The Truth is deposed in public bv the new purpose value. Consensus. Within this
changed landscape, legitimacv is no longer built from top-to-bottom and once-for-all, but the other wav
round. from bottom-to-top and dav-bv-dav. New kind of legitimacv has brought new strategies and
obfectives, and hence the legitimacv of new techniques, for which the central concept is Credibilitv and
the main instrument is the Image. Therefore, legitimate statehood becomes the stake of a permanent,
dailv, and highlv speciali:ed activitv - conceived, designed and built according to a new social
engineering. Public Relations. For example to legitimi:e the existence within the Carpatho-Danubian-
Pontic area of a nation-state called Romania, with the current attributes of statehood - sovereigntv,
independence, unitarv and indivisible character is no longer a matter of ideologv, but one of image. In
a world where Wilson`s principle
1
stops functioning as instance of legitimacv, the national securitv
strategv does not necessarilv refer to doctrine field, but to that of Communication. It is an effective
communication strategv, i.e. a PR campaign..

Keywords: devalued societv, Legitimacv, Countrv image, National securitv


1. POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AS
DEVALUED SOCIETY

1 Modernity was born along with the great
ideologies, usually seen as alternatives to
Christianity. (Touraine, 1996:3-18). But to
Christianity, as a universalist religion, it could
only be opposed a universalistic and
, laic ideologies

1
Woodrow Wilson`s Principle, oI ,national selI-
determination, has been presented to the USA
Congress on the 8
th
January, 1918, as a response to
Lenin`s proposals oI 22nd November, 1917 (peace
"without annexations and indemnities"). Due to the
Wilsonian project, between 1918-1920 they were able to
complete the union oI more nations, the Romanian
nation being one oI them. In the XX
th
century, ,the
national principle Iunctioned as court oI legitimacy,
contributing to the aIIirmation oI nationalism as a
,great legitimate nation (Lyotard).
oIIered another insight into the world and
man's place in it, but had the same claim oI
universality; the proposed picture by them was
as comprehensive and totalizing the explains
the origins oI the world and man, describes
their evolution and prescribed rules oI
behavior to harmonize the man with the world.
That is why the great ideologies oI
modernity were eschatologies, too - this time,
laic ones being Iorced to postulate a sense of
historv without which it couldn`t provide a
sense of life. However, they have wanted to be
"made", and in order to turn to reality they
appealed to 'large Iormat subjects', true heroes
oI world history. ThereIore, Lyotard (1993)
calls them 'great stories. All these "stories oI
legitimacy" (Lyotard, 1993:59-68) contain an
ontology, a gnoseology and ethics; most
contain a "sociology" and "political science",
COUNTRY IMAGE MANAGEMENT - ELEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY



and some also propose a "pedagogy". This
exhaustive character made them part oI the
process oI legitimacy in the same manner in
which Christianity had done and tradition did
in case oI 'closed societies (Popper). This
manner is called by Lyotard 'legitimating
narrative. As participating in a tradition was
suIIicient to ensure social recognition beIore,
reIlected in the moral sense oI "respectability",
great ideologies have allowed continued top-
to-bottom legitimacy; iI beIore legitimizing
presupposed the appeal to 'tradition sky
(Habermas), now purpose values are used,
being proposed by great ideologies. The
IIundamental Iunction oI "great stories" is the
harmonization oI the painting world with
human liIe, rendering a meaning to both world
history and human liIe. By this, they meet
some basic necessities: oI unitarv picture of
the world, oI emotional securitv, oI devotion
and sense of life. Making reIerence to all
elaborate systems, Erich Fromm wrote:
'Whatever their content is, they all respond to
the double human need to have a system to
support thinking and an object oI devotion to
assure the signiIicance oI his existence and his
situation in the world. (Fromm, 1993:93).
One can argue that great ideologies have
worked, until recently, as symbolic vaults Ior
human communities, as whole societies. Thus,
they took over Irom the Christianity and
tradition, being the main sources oI
recognition and respectability, including selI-
recognition and selI-respectability.
But the vault has a bivalent symbolic
Iunction: a) on the one hand, it provides a
community the identity guidelines and ensures
the coherence oI social behavior; b) on the
other hand, it creates a 'greenhouse eIIect that
delays the community adaptation to changes in
the environment. People renounce to the
symbolic cornerstone when it becomes
obvious that it no longer provides adaptation
and thus, evolution, when they Ieel
'suIIocated. (See, Ior example, the case oI
collapsed communist ideology in the Iormer
socialist countries oI Eastern Europe).
Sometimes the tension between objective
headquarters oI development and the symbolic
vault in Iorce becomes evident later on; it is
ideologically processed and attributed to other
phenomena than the real ones. In such cases
devastating conIlicts arise and the symbolic
vault collapses into the deaIening noise oI war
see the Iormer Yugoslavia in the 90s.

2. INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
OF ~GREAT STORIES COLLAPSE

The end oI great ideologies oI modernity is
not the result oI the collapse oI communist
ideology as the dominant ideology, but on the
contrary: anticommunist revolutions oI 1989
represent the end point oI last universalist
ideology survival which claimed to act as
symbolic vault Ior an entire society. What
Francis Fukuyama tried to underline in the
study 'Is This the End oI History?, Iirst
published in the summer issue oI 1989 oI
'National Interest U.S. magazine (1989), is
only an unsuccessIul attempt to replace
communism with liberalism, as a last unique
and symbolic vault, valid Ior all humanity in
the globalization stage. Today, nobody
believes in Fukuyama, Ior the decades that
have elapsed since the publication oI his
controversial study, event-history prediction
denied the prediction: 'universalization oI
Western liberal democracy as the Iinal Iorm oI
human government. Rather, his Iorecast on
survival in the short term, on nationalism and
oI Islam, on the long term, as an alternative to
liberal democracy doctrine, was conIirmed.
(Fukuyama,1989:466). Here is a subject oI
meditation closely related to the topic oI our
work. The nationalisms explosion would equal
that oI great structures oI world peace; the
political and military powers Iragmentation
can also mean losing control oI destructive
Iorces on planetary range; the collapse oI
traditional economic structures can cause a
dangerous isolationism and, thereIore, can
lead to the appearance oI numerous "fascism of
helplessness" that may generate whole new
international conIlicts, oI widespread
instability.
Out oI such a bleak perspective, but not
entirely unrealistic, the point that Allan Bloom
COUNTRY IMAGE MANAGEMENT - ELEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY



drew attention to seemed interesting, being
one oI the most convincing critics oI the idea
oI universalization oI liberal democracy:
'Nations oI AIrica and the Middle East which,
Ior one reason or another, do not easily reach
modernity, are tempted to Iind meaning and
aIIirmation oI identity in various Iorms oI
European nations cannot Iind a rational reason
to exclude Irom their territories the numerous
potential immigrants that return to their
national myths. Even the American leIt side
has enthusiastically embraced the Iascist
arguments against modernity and
eurocentrism, being perceived as expressions
oI rationalism.(Bloom, 1989:472). From the
perspective oI national security strategy it is
important to understand whether the relapse
Irom the 'sky oII rationality and universality
is an irreversible trend oI human history or it
will remain only a necessary step backwards in
the more general trend oI history
universalization, 'one step back beIore 'other
three Iorward, "a simple return to the point
where the history universality was seized by
great powers and Iorced to distortion through
imperialist-like strategies. We must be also
interested in ways and means to counterattack
the possibility that a likely omnes against
omnis war to degenerate into Armageddon, a
Iinal battle with no losers and no winners.

3. ~SMALL STORIES AND ~BOTTOM-
TO-UPLEGITIMACY

The end oI 'great stories oI legitimacy is
due, ultimately, to astonishing developments
oI advanced capitalist societies. 'Post-
industrial society, or 'neo-capitalism, has
abandoned hierarchical management mode,
turning into a network oI networks, an "anti-
system based on autonomy oI agents, on
teamwork, on Ilexibility and communication.
(Hauser & Michon, 2001: 15).
This new Iorm oI society is described by
Pascal Michon: 'The development oI
telecommunication technology, oI inIormation
networks in real time, the globally
interconnected world, but also at intermediate
level, the development oI democracy
represented in many countries as beIore and,
Iinally, at regional level, business management
development through meetings, oI inIormation
circulation all these developments have
changed the ways oI meaning and the way in
which companies produce their own sense
(2001: 15).
The new way to produce meaning is easily
described by the term 'small story. People
still need a storv and in the absence oI 'great
stories they resort to substitutes oI great
ideologies, i.e. replacing the theory with
'genres such as ethnography, narrative
journalist, humorous comic book,
documentary and, especially, the novel.
(Rorty, 1998:30).
A true priest oI the 'post-metaphysical
culture which he considers 'not less possible
than a post-religious one and as desirable
(1998:29). Richard Rorty theorizes the
"historicist turn" whose essence would reside
in replacing Truth with Freedom. Truth
becomes a private value, as BelieI at the
beginning oI secularization oI modern
societies, and the search Ior truth a strictly
personal matter, as seeking God, that is, a
matter oI "selI creation" and "private
perIection. In public places we cannot
legitimize through appeal to Truth, because
today it became clear that selI creation and
justice, private perIection and human solidarity
cannot be consolidated into a single vision:
There is no way that selI creation can be
reunited with justice, at the theory level. The
selI creation vocabulary is a private one by al
means, being unshared, unsuitable Ior any
argumentation. The vocabulary oI justice is
necessarily a public, shared one, an
environment good Ior argumentative
exchanges (1998:27)
We`ve considered this point oI view not so
much Ior its philosophical signiIicance, but Ior
its social relevance; the Iact that Rorty was
one oI the most popular American
philosophers is explained by the coincidence
oI his ideas and the obsession oI North
American society with Consensus. The "neo-
capitalist" society orientation Irom Truth to
Consensus is interpreted by Rorty as a general
COUNTRY IMAGE MANAGEMENT - ELEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY



turning 'against theory and towards narrative.
ThereIore, 'the novel, Iilm and TV program
have replaced gradually but Iirmly, the
preaching and the treaty as main means oI
moral change and progress. (Rorty, 1998:30)
On the other side oI the Ocean, Gilles
Lipovetsky (1996) remarks the same
distancing oI contemporary society Irom truth
and Irom the theoretical explanation, in Iavor
oI consensus and intuitive image. In Twilight
of debt, Lipovetsky speaks oI post-Kantian
ethics speciIic to a post moralist society: 'post
moralist culture expanded the range oI options
and possible liIestyles, coerced conIormity to
step back Irom the invention oI individualistic
selI: we do not believe in the dream oI
'changing liIe', there is only the sovereign
individual concerned with the management oI
liIe quality. (.) The hyper liberal phase is
coming to an end, ultra rigorism has no
legitimacy; this is the new cultural
conIiguration oI our time, that combines the
requirements oI private autonomous with those
oI a clean public place. The post moralist era
is no more transgressive, nor Puritan, it is
correct. (Lipovetsky, 1996:86-89).
In this new socio-cultural context,
strategies oI legitimacy in the public space
radically change. We cannot legitimize
claiming us Irom a great ideology, and even
Irom certain moral principles. But, iI moral
values cease to be values oI finalitv, they
become values oI vield. Lipovetsky speaks oI
"operational utilitarian morality", which is
illustrated best by the new communication
strategy oI enterprises. Here's how he
describes this great shiIt in the mechanisms oI
legitimating: 'Although Iree enterprise
becomes the unsurpassable horizon oI the
economy, it is Iorced to deIine and create its
own criteria oI legitimacy; the era when the
great enterprise could be considered a pure
trader has passed; it no longer limited to
merely sell products, but it must manage
public relations, to conquer and to promote
their institutional legitimacy. (...) Now, the
legitimacy oI the enterprise is no longer given
or challenged, it is built and sold, we live in
the era oI values marketing and promotional
legitimacies, the last stage oI post moralist
secularization. (Lipovetsky, 1996:291-292).

4. COUNTRY IMAGE AS A
LEGITIMACY TOOL

In the context oI contemporary societies,
secular and 'devalued, we witness the end oI
the trend noticed by Jurgen Habermas (1983)
related to the transition Irom traditional to
modern society: 'Capitalism (.) gives a
legitimacy to domination that does not descend
Irom the heaven oI cultural tradition, but that
can be based on social work. Market
Institution (.) corresponds to justice
equivalence oI exchange relations. With this
category oI reciprocity, bourgeois ideology is
itselI a standing point oI legitimacy, out oI a
report speciIic to communicative action. But
here the principle oI reciprocity is the very
principle oI social organization oI production
and reproduction processes. ThereIore,
political power can now be legitimized 'down',
not 'up' (through appeal to cultural tradition).
(Habermas, 1983:159-160) In other words,
legitimacy occurs not through teleonomic
values or, as Jean Piaget calls them, "values oI
Iinality" (Piaget, 1967:44) inoculated into the
social body through the great ideologies, but
through vield values, which are presented and
perceived as values of finalitv. Thus,
Propaganda is replaced by Advertising. There
is no question oI promoting a set oI values oI
Iinality, but to transform yield values into
values oI Iinality.
Our thesis sustains that today, replacing
legitimacy 'top-to-bottom with "bottom-to
top one has been generalized, going beyond
the nation-state boundaries and bursting into
the international relations. Individuals,
organizations and states legitimize themselves
through the management of their own self-
image (euphemistic phrase, where the true
content oI this activity is distorted: the
management of social representations). To
serve this task, a whole system oI social
engineering was born, with all the technology
related to it: Public Relations. An extensive
literature talks about the evolution oI
COUNTRY IMAGE MANAGEMENT - ELEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY



techniques Ior managing social
representations.
Many oI these techniques could be
undertaken eIIectively in the Romanian
national security strategy.
The lack oI a strategy oI managing the
country image does not mean that Romania
doesn`t have an image outside; it has several
images, in diIIerent socio-historical areas. But
spontaneous image oI a subject, comprising
"natural way" is inIluenced by many Iactors
beyond the subjects` control. It is exactly what
happens to the image oI Romania, in which the
imagological viewpoint indicators develop as
weeds, serving the country's development
objectives on the medium and long term and
through it, sabotaging the national securitv
policv.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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philopsophie. n 'Commetaire`, no. 47 -
Automne.
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ucharest: Political Publishing House. B

3. Fukuyama, Francis. (1989). La Iin de
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Automne.
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om. In Sociologia contemporan. Al JI-lea
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