1. THE OH-SO-POLARIZED U.S. ELECTIONS: The rather sad, nail-biting U.S. elections are finally behind us. I say “sad” because our public diplomacy officers around the world were relatively limited as to what they could say and do about the long, drawn-out process. Many opportunities to explain U.S.-style democracy and our complex voting system and changing media landscape…
1.REMEMBERING THE U.S. EMBASSY TAKEOVER IN IRAN: Amidst all the U.S. election excitement, a two-para, November 4, 2020 statement from Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo didn’t get much attention. It was issued to mark the 41st anniversary of the day Ayatollah Khomeini’s followers broke into the U.S Embassy in Tehran and took more than…
1. A CALL FOR PEACEFUL U.S. ELECTIONS: Less than a week before the November 3, 2020 U.S. general elections, Freedom House — the independent watchdog organization that advocates for democracy and human rights around the world — issued a rather remarkable press release, which called on “politicians and journalists to protect the electoral process.” In…
1. MERIDIAN GOES VIRTUAL OVER GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY: Kudos to Meridian International Center for pulling off its groundbreaking, 5 ½-hr virtual event on October 23, 2020. Approximately 1,000 people around the world engaged in the nonprofit’s ninth annual Meridian Summit convened and produced by Meridian President and CEO Ambassador Stuart Holliday, former Coordinator of State’s…
1. THE BTS PHENOMENON AND “K-POP” DIPLOMACY: If you haven’t heard of BTS, you either have no access to old or new media, or you live on another planet! The wildly successful, squeaky clean, seven-member boy-band from South Korea continues to take the world by storm with its popular music and powerful social media messages.…
1.U.S. TECH GIANTS: ARE THEY TOO BIG? Few players have a greater influence on the digital economy — or on international communication or exchange or the work of public diplomacy professionals — than the four so-called “Big Tech” companies: Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. As powerful, private firms with a truly global reach, they are…
1.REMEMBERING JUSTICE RUTH GINSBURG AND “SCOTUS DIPLOMACY”: Amidst the avalanche of media coverage of the September 18, 2020 death of Justice Ginsburg, one photo may have stood out for many in the PD community. It was the unforgettable picture of liberal Justice Ginsburg seated behind her conservative friend and colleague, Justice Antonin Scalia, while riding…
1. IKE’S MEMORIAL AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The National Park Service has just opened its fifth presidential memorial off the National Mall. Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the memorial honors Dwight D. Eisenhower, and is appropriately located on Independence Avenue, SW between 4th and 6th Streets, SW, across from the Voice of America. Although it…
1. WHITE HOUSE CEREMONIES AND PHOTO OPS: Veteran Middle East experts, public diplomacy hands, and White House observers will remember two dates that attracted intense international media attention and stimulated great optimism: March 26, 1979, and September 13, 1993. Both marked Middle East peace progress and produced iconic foreign policy photo ops and “deliverables” from the…
1.DEBATES COMING UP: The nonprofit, non-partisan Commission on Public Debates (CPD) has released the schedule for the important 2020 presidential election debates. The three presidential debates will be September 29 in Cleveland; October 15 in Miami; and October 22 in Nashville. The one vice presidential debate will be October 7 in Salt Lake City. The…