Dana Shuqom Successfully Defends Her Doctoral Dissertation

Dana’s dissertation explored how tourism policy is used by Middle Eastern state actors, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as a public diplomacy tool. Dana’s research question was motivated by the changes in Saudi Arabia’s tourism and domestic policies to encourage events such as concerts and sporting competitions, permitting the mixing of genders in public spaces, and creating new tourism destinations and experiences designed to attract international, especially Western, travellers. Through interviews, field observations, and process tracing, Dana found that the Kingdom uses tourism policy as a tool of public diplomacy to achieve its foreign policy goal of managing the state’s brand. The thesis introduced a model, the “Narrative Control Mechanism”, that summarized the actions taken by the state to change its image among foreign publics. This multidisciplinary dissertation drew on literature in the fields of international relations, public diplomacy, tourism, Middle Eastern and Arab studies, foreign policy analysis, and political communication.

Dana’s thesis committee, consisting of Lana Wylie (supervisor), Marshall Beier, and Stephen McBride, along with the external examiner, Rebecca Tiessen (University of Ottawa), was impressed with Dana’s strong oral defence of her project.

Congratulations, Dana!