A proposal to reorganize the Department of State is due later this month. Secretary Rex Tillerson called for it, and teams in State and USAID have been working on the “redesign.” How this will affect public diplomacy is not known; PD is not one of the primary topics singled out for attention after a consultancy’s…
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By Alan Heil Jr. The United Nations calls it the worst humanitarian crisis since 1945. Largely ignored on world media: the threat that about 20 million people in four African countries, in addition to millions in Yemen, will starve to death, among them millions of children. Perhaps no news organization has focused so intensively on…
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By Ambassador Brian Carlson Years ago, during the Cold War, Soviet propaganda continually portrayed the United States and NATO nations as militaristic, provocative and dangerously over-armed. Every new Western weapons system and Congressional appropriation became more grist for Soviet-sponsored psyops mills around the world, while the USSR’s and Warsaw Pact’s own military spending and armaments…
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By Alan Heil Four years ago, a school in a sparsely populated South Carolina county had a dream: “Why not build an on-line bridge via the Internet, so elementary school kids could embark on a common learning experience with their contemporaries in a sister school in Kenya?” That was the start, in Allendale County, of…
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Professional Study in a Public Diplomacy Career Donald M. Bishop After their initial “entry level” assignments, most Foreign Service Officers in the Public Diplomacy cone begin their careers with one or more overseas tours as an IO, AIO, CAO, ACAO, APAO, or Consulate PAO. These are the assignments that in time lead to becoming…
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Public Diplomacy’s Oral History Interviews Donald M. Bishop It’s a commonplace that most historical studies of U.S. public diplomacy have focused on Washington policies, themes, leaders, and decisions. They have thus slighted how policies were implemented “in the field” — in other nations, regions, and societies. There’s not much written on how Public…
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By Joe B. Johnson Bruce Wharton, the first Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy from the ranks of the career Foreign Service, has retired. Wharton has provided stellar leadership and set a fine example for public diplomacy employees since his appointment last December. No successor has been announced. Nothing indicates that Ambassador Wharton’s departure is anything other than…
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By Alan Heil A SHORTWAVE CHRYSALIS TO A MULTIMEDIA BUTTERFLY: U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING THEN AND NOW Last Monday was indeed a memorable day for historians of our nation’s publicly-funded international broadcasters. In the 20th century, these scholars were challenged to understand hot and Cold Wars, and convey what they learned, largely on shortwave radio. Now they…
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By Alan Heil To those who follow and admire America’s five government-funded international broadcasting networks, June 14, 2017 — Flag Day in the U.S. — will be long remembered as an extraordinary and unique memorial celebration. On that day, the Broadcasting Board of Governors held a bimonthly meeting. The largely unrecognized danger its reporters face…
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By Alan Heil In a briefing to a record crowd at the First Monday forum of the Public Diplomacy Council and USC’s Annenberg School June 5, the State Department’s senior advisor to the Helsinki Commission laid out principles for meeting those challenges. As Scott Rauland put it: “Don’t expect to combat the firehose of falsehoods…
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