THE ROLE OF CITIZEN IN INDONESIAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY THROUGH IACS (INDONESIAN ARTS AND CULTURAL SCHOLARSHIP) PROGRAM

The increasing number of citizen activities in building relations between countries cannot be ignored in the globalized world. People-to-people contact had obscured the domestic and international issues and put them in a similar role and activities. The significant role of citizens was attached to diplomacy activities by providing a large space in Indonesian Foreign Affairs for them through public diplomacy office formation. The institution was established by the Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy in 2002. This article is the result of research on the activities of IACS (Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship) that involve participants from diverse background countries. IACS program was one of public diplomacy projects in Indonesia. The methodology used in this research was qualitative research methodologies through in-depth interview methods with the IA CS participants years 2012-2014 as subject of research. In-depth interviews was conducted to find out not only for knowing how far the participants IACS establish relationships among them who have different cultural backgrounds and nationalities but also understanding relations towards Indonesian people. This research had found that the relations made had changed their perceptions on Indonesia. The claims proposed in this research are, firstly, conceptually, public diplomacy and citizen diplomacy are no longer separated. Both public diplomacy and citizen diplomacy have similar goals and activities. Secondly, practically, citizens or public are no longer placed as a target or object of public diplomacy, but more than that it’s placed as equal partners for their network. Thirdly, public diplomacy is able to place itself as a tool of state to compose mutual understanding and relations and is not as state propaganda’s tool