Secretary of State Antony Blinken, addressing the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva February 24, reaffirmed the new Biden administration’s commitment to support human rights efforts throughout the world. It clearly is a core issue in U.S, public diplomacy in the four years ahead. He said the United States “will fully re-engage in…
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Will the U.S., Western and industrialized countries with anticipated surpluses of the vaccine against the 21st century’s deadliest disease join to help provide relief for hundreds of millions of COVID-19 victims in Africa, Asia and Latin America? It’s too early to say, but there compelling reasons to do so. Worldwide, there have been more than…
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1. A STUNNING DAY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: Friday, February 19, 2021 was not “just another news day” for America. If you were a U.S. diplomat, especially a public diplomacy officer, it was arguably a great day. Several things happened within just a couple of hours to significantly explain and advance U.S. policy of partnership, cooperation, engagement…
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Joe Biden made his first contacts with foreign leaders, among them, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, just three days after the 46th U.S. President’s inauguration on January 20. In Trudeau’s words: “Canada and the United States will continue our partnership as we fight the global Covid-19 pandemic and…
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1. FACTS ABOUT THE “LEAN” PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BUDGET: The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) has released an important report that is essential reading for anyone interested in the state of public diplomacy as practiced today by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Called 2020 Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy…
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Is it possible that we are on the threshold of an end to the devastating half-dozen years of civil war in Yemen — regarded by some scholars and Middle East watchers as today’s most serious international crisis? Fresh diplomatic initiatives, led so far by the United States, signal an already fast-moving way ahead. On…
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By Sherry Lee Mueller and Olivia Chavez The Advocacy Imperative The Public Diplomacy Council mission is to promote excellence in professional practice, academic study, and advocacy for public diplomacy. The first two endeavors are relatively easy to comprehend. It is the third – advocacy – that is often neglected and misunderstood. Yet we are approaching…
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1. “POTUS” VISITS FOGGY BOTTOM: A visit to the State Department by the President of the United States (POTUS) is always a major event. (President Trump only visited the building once in four years — for Secretary Pompeo’s 2018 swearing-in ceremony — and once famously joked that Pompeo was head of the “Deep State Department”.) So…
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As the United States welcomes a new administration that will tackle the challenges presented by COVID-19 and seek to bridge the nation’s political divide, I would like to call Public Diplomacy Council (PDC) members and blog readers to reflect on what the last historical year allowed us to learn. Shutdowns around the world presented an…
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1. “RESETTING” STATE DEPARTMENT: January 27, 2021 was a historic day for the State Department and all who follow U.S. diplomacy. It was the first full day on the job for the new 71st Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Politics and personality aside, it was a welcome change for many, who have felt demoralized under the…
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