Participants & Abstracts
Drew BrooksGeorgetown University
Drew Brooks graduated from The Citadel military college in 2006 with a degree in German literature, and spent a year studying provincial Roman archaeology in Cologne with the Fulbright program before beginning the MAGES program. Although born in Germany, he considers northern Virginia his home, and lives in Arlington with his girlfriend Laura and Maggie the dog. Upon graduation (God-willing) from Georgetown in 2009, he hopes to work for the U.S. Foreign Service and travel the world. His concentration is called "The Cultural Politics of European Security."
Paper:
Buitenlandse samenwerking: The Dutch Government's Domestic Campaign to be an International Progressive Force
This paper examines the efforts by the Government of the Netherlands to influence the (domestic) public discourse about the Dutch and European role in the world, in order to justify and gain support for its relatively interventionist tendencies. By examining the websites of the Netherlands Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this paper addresses the question of whether this public relations campaign tends to promote discussion and dialogue among citizens on the issue of Dutch global activism by providing information, or whether it addresses its audience as consumers to whom ideas need marketing. Chris Shore and Jürgen Habermas criticize most similar efforts by European governments as tending towards the second method; this paper thus approaches its subject through the framework provided by these two scholars, and finds that there are some key differences in substance and methods between this case and the processes they identify, but also some striking similarities. Finally, using European and international polling data, this paper begins to examine how successful the domestic campaign has been in shaping public opinion, and concludes that the efforts to influence the debate over the Dutch role in the world have been only a qualified success, raising doubts about both the efficacy and dangers of public-sector marketing campaigns.
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