Formerly ranked in the camp of “great mute”, diplomacy has become a recurring subject in public debate. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has used it as an asset in his expression to the French, he presents himself as the one who stands up to Vladimir Putin.
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The international scene is now home to a whole section of communication, diplomacy is played out through images and tweets, and it is the heads of state who preempt this space. But how is good diplomatic communication made? And who are the best spokespersons? The question is put to Didier Le Bret, diplomat, crisis management specialist and consultant. He was notably Ambassador of France in Haiti or Director of the Crisis Center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For four months, all observers have been repeating the same thing about the war in Ukraine: in parallel with the military war, there is a war of communication, a staged diplomatic battle. Former TV producer and ultra-popular actor, Volodymyr Zelensky has become the hero of the Ukrainian resistance but also of Western public opinion. He uses the codes of fiction, which he knows by heart. And the Ukrainian president breaks the codes of political communication, as in his surprise speech at the Cannes Film Festival where he compared Putin to the character of Charlie Chaplin’s dictator and where he quoted a sentence from the film “Apocalypse now”. “Vladimir Putin is the opposite, he communicates alone, coldly, and only for important announcements”emphasizes Didier Le Bret.
Also in this episode, returns to great moments of diplomatic communication, from Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” to Dominique de Villepin’s speech on Iraq at the UN. And for his info and more, Gaspard Gantzer evokes the wind of panic which is blowing on the side of the majority at the approach of the legislative elections which promise to be largely shunned by the voters.