The role of public diplomacy in statecraft; professional ethics; organizational principles; arguments for using public diplomacy
Linked via ZOOM, two dozen veteran practitioners and scholars of the impact of the nation’s five overseas international broadcasters joined December 16th in discussion of the networks’ future under a Biden administration. Among the expert panelists as lead participants: Amanda Bennett and David Ensor. Former Voice of America Directors Martha Bayles and Peter Pomerantsev, scholars…
The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy sponsored a “global conversation on how the US election is being explained to the world” on December 15 — the day after the United States’ Electoral College voted Joseph Biden as President-elect. Prof. Adam Clayton Powell III, chaired an eclectic panel of media experts from locations…
1. “VACCINE DIPLOMACY” AND PUBLIC CONFIDENCE AND EDUCATION: As the United States – and much of the world – braces for more coronavirus infections and deaths, the pressures to approve several vaccines and start widely and fairly distributing them intensifies at home and abroad. Public affairs and public diplomacy personnel face staggering challenges on the long…
“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and the touchstone of all the freedoms, as well, to which the United States is consecrated. This is our touchstone as well. We seek a free flow of information with others, across Iron Curtains and stone walls.” — President John F. Kennedy, 1962 “To millions in closed…
1.ROLLING OUT “AMERICA IS BACK!”: The incoming Biden Administration has named its key foreign policy officials, most of whom are well-known, reassuring names to many within the public diplomacy community. Of the six appointees in the cluster, five have had extensive experience within the State Department. In announcing the appointments on November 24, 2020, President-elect…
Disclaimer: This article is excerpted and adapted from a longer thesis paper completed during the author’s participation in the 2019-2020 Kathryn Davis PD Fellowship. The opinions expressed in this article belong to the author only and do not represent the views or policies of the U.S. government. As this paper went to press, Americans…
The ingenuity of hopeful humanity, from a 27-year-old environmental activist in India to President-elect Joseph Biden in United States. Both have faith that a bright day for weary, afflicted humans the world over must follow a grim winter for mounting victims of the greatest pandemic tragedy (COV-19) this century. According to Washington Post reporter Taniya…
Public Diplomacy: Re-engaging the World While international faith in America’s global leadership is much diminished, there is residual affinity around the world for our values, goals, and democratic heritage. On that foundation, we must rebuild our credibility as a world leader and as a society worthy of emulation. The Biden-Harris Administration faces many global challenges…
1.THE NOT-SO-OPEN “OPEN DOORS” REPORT:The new — and always useful — Institute of International Education (IIE) annual report on international students is out with findings that are not surprising given the pandemic. Funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the latest Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange found that a “snapshot survey” last…
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…