The United States’ closure of China’s consulate in Houston, which was followed by the shuttering of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu by China, was attributed to intelligence activities supported by the Chinese government. But it’s worth remembering China’s expansion and authoritarian control measures that underly the diplomatic clash. The PRC tightens its grip on Hong…
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This spring, the Public Diplomacy Council welcomed a new category of Rising Professional members into its ranks. Last week, Mojib Ziarmal Ghaznawi discussed his calling to the Foreign Service and his love for playing the flute as a captivating launch to my Q&A series. I was inspired by Olivia Chavez’s interview with Dr. Sherry Mueller…
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1.UNITED STATES REJECTS CHINA’S SOUTH CHINA SEA CLAIMS: Amidst the increasingly public escalation of charges and name-calling between the United States and China over a long — and growing — list of bilateral concerns, the United States issued very tough guidance on the long-simmering maritime disputes over South China Sea water and seabed rights. On…
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Today’s news of President Trump’s ‘termination’ of the Fulbright program for China and Hong Kong brought a memory of a different approach to difficult bilateral relations. (See his Executive Order which among other items commits to “take steps to terminate the Fulbright exchange program with regard to China and Hong Kong with respect to future…
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This spring, the Public Diplomacy Council welcomed a new category of Rising Professional members into its ranks. Over the next several weeks, PDC blog readers will have the opportunity to get to know some of these new members via my Q&A series. I was inspired by Olivia Chavez’s interview with Dr. Sherry Mueller (“Wanted: Young…
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1. ICE CHILLS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Surprise July 6 guidance from ICE — the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – modified temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant foreign students taking online courses in U.S. schools this coming fall semester. The stunning, new ruling has caused widespread confusion, uncertainty and concern since…
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The Washington Post and New York Times have been joined by the National Press Club and PEN America in requesting newly-appointed U.S. international broadcasting CEO Michael Pack to quickly extend guest visas of non-citizen VOA staff members. These 76 journalists are essential to the Voice, the nation’s largest government-funded global multimedia overseas network that reaches…
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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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