Historical Memory and Foreign Policy The Role of the Past in Shaping Contemporary Diplomatic Practices among Asian Countries

This study investigates the links among historical memory representation, cultural diplomacy strategy, and contemporary diplomatic effectiveness across Asian countries while assessing the moderating role of regional historical tension. Grounded in social constructivist theory and soft power theory, it frames diplomatic effectiveness as the product of processes in which portrayals of the past and carefully coordinated cultural engagement influence trust, communication, cooperation, crisis management, and international legitimacy. Regional historical tension functions as a boundary condition that shapes whether cultural diplomacy translates into successful diplomatic results. A quantitative cross sectional design gathered data via a five point Likert scale questionnaire from 385 Vietnam based participants familiar with diplomacy, foreign policy, Asian studies, historical disputes, international cooperation, or cultural exchange. IBM SPSS version 26 enabled reliability checks, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple linear regression, while Hayes’ Process Macro Model 1 tested the moderating effect. The results indicate that historical memory representation (β = 0.632) and cultural diplomacy strategy (β = 0.688) markedly enhance contemporary diplomatic effectiveness. Cultural diplomacy strategy yields the larger direct impact, highlighting the value of ongoing cultural exchange, reciprocal involvement, audience adaptation, and trustworthy international engagement. Regional historical tension notably reduces the positive association between cultural diplomacy strategy and contemporary diplomatic effectiveness, shown by the negative interaction coefficient of −0.389. The findings demonstrate that cultural attraction by itself cannot ensure effective diplomacy when relations carry contested historical narratives, nationalist mobilization, unresolved grievances, and rival claims about victimhood or territorial ownership. Therefore, Asian countries should join inclusive historical representation and genuine cultural engagement with lasting arrangements for handling regional historical tension.