The role of public diplomacy in statecraft; professional ethics; organizational principles; arguments for using public diplomacy
The March 29 edition of the Washington Post carried the sad news of the passing of one of our country’s foremost cultural diplomats: Yale Richmond. Yale’s geographic area specialization was Russia and Central Europe. When he began working in the region, Russia was still the Soviet Union and the United States referred to anything west…
Around the globe, citizens and netizens are focused on the coronavirus – how not to be infected, how to prevent the virus’s spread, how it is stressing systems of medical care, and how long preventive measures must continue. The crisis has more than medical and economic dimensions, however. It has given rise to what some…
“CRACKS APPEARING IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY…AS CORONAVIRUS TERRORIZES THE WORLD” That grim headline is the opening of a program March 25 moderated by the Voice of America’s Greta van Susteren. That half hour weekly Wednesday panel is entitled Plugged In. Ms. van Susteren samples experts’ up-to-the minute assessments of global health crisis endangering millions of…
“Churchillian.” That’s a word being used to describe the St. Patrick’s Day Ministerial Broadcast – what Americans would call an address to the nation – by Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland Leo Varadkar on the coronavirus. “This is the calm before the storm – before the surge,” he told Ireland’s people. The speech is worth…
On Leap Year Day, the United States and Taliban signed an agreement in Qatar that sought to end the nearly 19-year-old Afghan civil war. Under the agreement, Afghan parties to the conflict would: Agree on a permanent ceasefire and power-sharing in postwar Afghanistan Begin negotiations March 10 (Tuesday of this week). In the preparation for…
A capacity crowd welcomed Croatia’s Ambassador to the United States Pjer Simunovic at a presentation on the value of cultural and educational exchanges for both the United States and partnering nations worldwide. He was joined by a panel of experts gathered for a First Monday Forum event March 2 at the George Washington University School…
After a comprehensive survey, VOA veteran analyst Matthew Baise reports that the nation’s largest publicly-funded network has attracted more than 7.8 million page views on the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China and other countries since January 18. According to Baise, the Voice’s coverage “has been diverse, tailored to target audiences, and highly successful.” …
As of February 17 the Coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, had killed 1,868 people in the Peoples Republic, according to the PRC National Health Commission. Chinese state television reported that Liu Zhiming, the director of the Wuhan hospital specifically assigned to deal with Corona, has succumbed to the virus, the seventh health worker there to…
Lately I’ve been reflecting on ethics in government. Have you? Ethics definitely apply to public diplomacy, but how? The guidelines that I can find remind me of a very old joke, usually told by an aging male. “When we got married, I made it clear to my wife that I would handle the important decisions…
A capacity crowd attended Dr. Joseph Nye’s Walter Roberts Endowment lecture on January 28 at George Washington University’s School of International Affairs in Washington. He shared the stage with Tara Sonenshine, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, who asked penetrating questions preceding those from the audience of diplomats and students attracted by the…