The role of public diplomacy in statecraft; professional ethics; organizational principles; arguments for using public diplomacy
In a Council on Foreign Relations cautionary report August 24, the Council puts it baldly: “The U.S. government responds to scores of disasters each year, coordinating closely with state, local, and foreign partners. However,” the account warns, “more frequent and severe storms, fires, and floods are straining resources.” The United States has been a leader…
Yemen’s civil war, now in its sixth year, has directly affected or cost the lives of up to an estimated 100,000 people. Once again, there’s hope for a breakthrough and settlement of at least some factional differences aimed at ending the world’s most devastating civil conflict. The challenges to U. S. public diplomacy are complex.…
1. U.S. CRACKS DOWN ON CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES: The days when China could quite freely sponsor Confucius Institutes (CIs) to promote Chinese language and culture on U.S. campuses are over. The State Department has decided to designate the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS), which is the Washington, DC-based de facto headquarters of the CI network, as…
If you work, you probably have to take computer-based training. That’s fine to acquire some job skills. But what if the topic is something that you need to learn by doing? Have you taken a “workshop” online? Last week I assisted in delivering a workshop for State Department employees via distance learning. For ten years I have…
Lebanon’s death toll after a disastrous explosion in Beirut’s port area August 4 has killed nearly 200,000 people. That’s in a population of just over five million. The Associated Press reported that the government resigned and remaining officials have imposed a two-week-long lockdown throughout the tiny East Mediterranean country. The explosion occurred when 2,750 tons…
1.TEACHING ABOUT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND POWER: The bipartisan U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) is continuing to do productive work to improve the public diplomacy functions vested in U.S. Government entities. Its latest product, Teaching Public Diplomacy and the Information Instruments of Power in a Complex Information Environment, is an 88-page special report intended for…
The Israel-UAE accord announced by President Trump August 13 has the potential of normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and a third Arab state. Is that potentially a significant step forward in defusing the Arab-Israeli dispute? Read ahead. The agreement, fashioned by the two Middle Eastern countries and encouraged by Washington, establishes formal relations between a…
1. A “DEADLY WARGAME”: PD professionals – like the public generally – aren’t usually exposed to wargames, an often classified strategy game that the Pentagon loves to use to simulate a military exercise or crisis. CNAS – the independent, non-partisan think-tank focused on security and defense policies – deserves credit for increasing public awareness of the…
This spring, the Public Diplomacy Council (PDC) welcomed a new category of Rising Professional members into its ranks. Over the past three weeks, I have had the pleasure of interviewing Rangel Fellow Mojib Ziarmal Ghaznawi, Wes Davison, and Shannon McNaught. This fourth installment of my Q&A series features yet another multifaceted Rising Professional member who…
Voice of America jazz specialist Willis Conover was heard by millions in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Far East, Africa, and the Caribbean during four decades from the mid-1950s until his death in 1996. Surveys at the peak of his career estimated Willis’ audience at 30,000,000 — remarkable for a music show host in the era…