Areas of PDC activity, including academic study, professional practice and advocacy
President-elect Biden has taken a promising first step to ensure that the five networks uphold that reputation by naming former Under Secretary of State Richard Stengel and Time Magazine columnist as director of a Biden transition team for international broadcasting and other foreign policy assets. America’s five U.S. overseas government multimedia networks face a crucial…
An estimated 100,000 people have lost their lives or been seriously injured in Yemen’s half a decade long civil war, with scant evidence of an approaching end to what some have described as “interminable human suffering.” The key adversaries are: the rebel Houthis now controlling much of northern Yemen and part of its capital city,…
This past week the Public Diplomacy Council hosted a very special event centered around cultural diplomacy. PDC member and American pianist Pauline Yang shared her musical outreach during public diplomacy visits organized by Ambassadors in Japan, Ethiopia, and Portugal. Her stellar presentation was inspiring and a breath of fresh air when so many virtual events…
A record number of U.S. voters cast ballots in the November 3 Presidential election, more than 150 million people. The latest electoral votes are reported as 306 for former vice president Biden and 232 electoral votes for President Trump. Some recounts are still underway, but most U. S. historians say that Joseph R. Biden will…
Joe Biden’s election as president is prompting broad reexamination of the United States’ diplomacy under the glare of a skeptical world. The U.S. electorate voted for an improvement in relations with traditional allies as well as for greater respect around the globe, and President Biden’s experience and approach to governing will go a long way…
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…
Less than a month after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, but before his inauguration, I was one of those who thought that when he sat behind the Resolute desk, he would understand the need to set aside his “candidate” personality in the face of “presidential” responsibilities. I was bold enough to write out the…
AMERICA’S ELECTION: POSSIBLE IMPACTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST In the wake of Joe Biden’s razor-thin victory in the November 3 presidential election, speculation is wide about the impact of a new administration next year on U.S. foreign policy in the turmoil-plagued Middle East. In his initial remarks on November 7th after winning a clear majority…
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…