The role of public diplomacy in statecraft; professional ethics; organizational principles; arguments for using public diplomacy
By Alan Heil In rapid succession, new developments to the south are potentially threatening U.S. security. Among them, crises in Haiti and Cuba. According to Politico, the Pentagon has made it clear it has no appetite for new U.S. military engagements nearby, yet experts and former officials are calling on President to devote more resources…
By Alan Heil The small Caribbean state of Haiti is once again plagued by seemingly unresolvable deadly turmoil. Located at the western end of the island of Hispaniola 400 miles south of Florida, this tiny country of 11 million people once again finds itself in the most horrific crisis this year in the Western hemisphere.…
The largest activity of the Public Diplomacy Council is probably one that most members don’t know about. I refer to the Citizen Diplomacy Research Group. Formed in June, 2020 by PDC member and sociologist and nonprofit executive Paul Lachelier with assistance from the PDC’s Debbie Trent, this affinity group includes a good number of PDC…
By Alan Heil Let’s imagine for a moment that we’re expert scientists from a distant universe with our first opportunity for a close-up view from space of what its inhabitants call Planet Earth. Their recent studies have detected a recurring increase in surface temperatures on that planet. What we see in this first closeup glimpse…
By Dr. Sherry Lee Mueller, PDC President This July 4th requires a reckoning of who we are and our place in the world. This first July 4 after the tragedy of January 6 must be about more than spectacular fireworks, tantalizing tastes, and backyard BBQs. Almost a century ago in 1922, Elihu Root, who served…
By Alan Heil Today’s news that the United States and NATO allies have departed the Bagram Air Base, the largest military installation in Afghanistan, calls for reflection. Twenty years ago, U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan. That was just a couple of weeks after al-Qaeda terrorists from Afghanistan killed 2,977 Americans in the infamous September 11 attacks…
1. U.S. IMAGE REBOUNDS DUE TO “THE BIDEN EFFECT”: Many Americans — and most foreigners — feel that four years of the Trump presidency did considerable damage to the country’s reputation around the world. Since June 10, 2021, they have some solid, independent research to support that conclusion. A Pew Research Center survey of 16 publics…
1. POTUS AND CODELS — THEY’RE BACK!: Both President (POTUS) Biden and Vice President Harris have taken their first foreign trips since assuming office to demonstrate that the United States is once again showing leadership and consulting with its friends. The President’s destination was Europe for the G7 summit in the UK, the NATO and U.S.-EU summit…
A wide angle Agence France Presse photo of President Biden, on his first overseas trip as chief executive, displays a crowd sitting behind him. Of a hundred spectators in the stands, all except two are wearing black masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The President was speaking to U.S. Air Force staff in Suffolk,…
by Alan Heil Graduate addresses can blend together as compositions rendered in a fine orchestra. To quote Amelia Nierenberg in the New York Times: “Graduation is really a victory.” Or, as basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told graduates at Washington University in St. Louis: “Surviving means that you have come through the catastrophe, but you’re still…