The public as a problem: protest, public diplomacy and the pandemic

With the coronavirus pandemic deepening pre-existing social issues, protests have re-emerged around world. It is, however, noteworthy that debates in public diplomacy and place branding remained largely silent about these episodes. This contribution argues should be taken into account within field. They not only stress contested nature of nationhood, but crucially, they also shed light on troubled relationship practitioners scholars with ‘public’, which is usually approached as a mere problem or resource to exploited order benefit those power.