My late father used to call particularly bad decisions ‘prismatic mistakes’, by which he meant they were wrong from every angle. We can only call DHS’s July 6 decision about foreign students and online coursework a prismatic blunder. It’s hard to see a way in which the U.S. benefits from sending international students home if…
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This article appears in the July-August 2020 issue of Foreign Service Journal. Posted here with permission from the Journal, this version includes endnotes. The text was submitted to the editors on April 30 and finalized on June 8; this version also includes notes to sources published through July 9, 2020. By Donald M. Bishop…
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Attendees at First Monday Forum got a data-drawn picture of the extent to which the world is being assaulted by disinformation and propaganda, with the United States in the bullseye. What is public diplomacy’s role? “Perception Hacking: How Russia, China, and Iran Use (and Abuse) Western Information Platforms” was the title. Bret Schaefer, Media and Disinformation…
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1. STEPS TOWARD LONG-OVERDUE CHANGE: In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, racism continues to grab the attention of much of the country and even the wider world. Let me cite just a few recent media efforts that might be of interest to PD professionals. A little-noticed move that…
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Seven Senators wrote to new global media director Michael Pack threatening budget cuts if the United States-supported media are politicized. The group, in an announcement June 2, expressed “deep concern” over what they termed as a purge by the Trump administration of five senior officers of U.S. international multimedia organizations shortly after the resignation of Voice of…
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An Intergenerational Dialogue When newly elected PDC President Sherry Lee Mueller and newly hired PDC Fellow Olivia Chavez first met, they both were unsure what their new responsibilities entailed but they knew one thing; they wanted to work together and learn from each other. What follows is an excerpt from our conversation on multigenerational leadership,…
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1. CALLING OUT CHINA: In case you haven’t noticed, official statements on U.S policy towards China have recently become much, much tougher. For proof, go no further than the June 24 speech delivered in Phoenix by National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. It was a stinging critique of the Chinese Communist Party as a threat…
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On June 17, Michael Pack, the newly-confirmed director of U.S. international broadcasting, arrived at its headquarters in southwest Washington, D.C, with this pledge: “I am fully committed to honoring the VOA Charter, the missions of the grantee broadcasters (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Network in Arabic and Radio-TV Marti…
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1. TURBULENCE AND TRANSITION CONTINUE: This time they directly impact public diplomacy and America’s international media efforts. A new CEO, Michael Pack, finally confirmed by the Senate, has been installed at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), and the heads of four USAGM entities – Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio…
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The newly-installed CEO of five publicly-funded multimedia overseas networks, Michael Pack, wasted no time during his first day in office June 17 in announcing his dismissal of four civil service heads of the networks. They are: President Jamie Fly of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a recently named specialist in Russia and Eastern Europe President Bay…
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