1 Introduction
1. The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games
is likely to be the event with the greatest international profile
for the UK during the 2010 Parliament. We have held a brief inquiry,
with a view to finding out what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) is doing with respect to the Olympics, what the UK might
reasonably hope to gain from the event in terms of public diplomacy,
and how the FCO can best exploit the Games for public diplomacy
purposes.
2. We held an oral evidence session to explore
these issues on 10 November 2010. Our witnesses were Simon Anholt,
independent policy adviser, author and researcher, who specialises
in national identity and reputation, and who is co-producer of
the annual Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index prepared
for the FCO; Dr Patrick Spaven OBE, Visiting Fellow, Centre for
Public Policy and Management, Manchester Business School, who
specialises in the evaluation of public diplomacy; and Jeremy
Browne MP, Minister of State at the FCO with responsibility for
public diplomacy and for the FCO's work in relation to the Olympic
Games, accompanied by Conrad Bird, Head of Public Diplomacy and
Strategic Communications, FCO. In addition, we received written
evidence from the FCO, from Professor Nick Cull of the University
of Southern California (with whom we also held an informal meeting),
and from Lord Bates of Langbaurgh. We are grateful to all those
who submitted evidence.
3. In this Report we first review the concepts
of public diplomacy, 'soft power' and 'nation branding'. We consider
the UK's international reputation, and the lessons to be learned
from other countries' experience of hosting major international
sporting events. We then consider in more detail the FCO's strategy
for the 2012 Olympics and the specific initiatives associated
with it, as well as issues of funding, the promotion of trade
and the 'green agenda', and other matters.
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