The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction recently issued a devastating report — Stabilization: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan — that evaluates the work of the DOD, State, and USAID in that country, especially during the “civilian surge” of 2009 and 2010. Full disclosure: I was the Public Affairs Officer at the…
In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the Soviet Union published a journal, Soviet Military Review, aimed at English-reading military audiences in the developing world. The January, 1976, issue included an article, “Ideological Inroads of Imperialism in the Developing Countries,” that discussed Public Diplomacy. Reading the article today recalls the contest of ideas during the Cold…
The same day that General Dwight Eisenhower issued his famous Order of the Day for the Normandy landings, he also distributed another letter to Allied soldiers on “Conduct of Troops in Liberated Countries.” It aimed for “mutual understanding and respect,” themes that President Eisenhower would often use in the White House. Here are the significant…
Public Diplomacy is much about communication, advocacy, and appeals. Public Diplomacy practitioners can learn this from textbooks, theories, and seminars, but the past opens another window. America was keyed up on June 6, 1944, when President Franklin Roosevelt spoke to the nation. From fragmentary news reports – the wire services always monitored German broadcasts –…
Noted columnist David Brooks recently asserted that what he termed “an American renaissance is already happening.” He noted that as the national government appears to be divided and polarized, cities far from Washington’s corridors of power are working to transform their communities — large and small. I recently experienced this firsthand in Houston, Texas, America’s fourth…
Public Diplomacy officers are often called on to speak at openings and conferences, and every American diplomat drafts remarks for Ambassadors and other administration principals. These skills are always improved by reading and listening to speeches from the past. Nearly eight decades after his death, memories of the American cowboy, movie star, and humorist Will…
This reflection comes from a Fulbright music scholar whom I met in Korea,Thomas J. Wegren, Ph.D. He is now Professor of Music, Faculty Emeritus at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. By Thomas J. Wegren My approaches to teaching, my perspectives on interpreting piano and music compositions, and my artistic vision were profoundly expanded by my enriching, year-long…
When I entered the Foreign Service in 1979, my class of 16 new Public Diplomacy officers was taught to cultivate “the Foreign Service manner,” the habits of diplomacy — listening, accurate reporting, careful speaking, and a certain care in asking questions without an edge. So much of Public Diplomacy is about “telling,” it’s good to…
Events more than seven decades ago prompt this short Memorial Day meditation for Public Diplomacy. On September 15, 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7), supporting the Guadalcanal campaign, was 170 miles southeast of San Cristobal Island in the Solomons. It was mid-afternoon on an active day of air operations — planes launched and planes…
I needed some cheer on this rainy Friday in Washington, and I found something that put me in a better mood. A government report. American Spaces, the collection of places where people overseas can learn about America, are growing faster than the weeds in my yard. Last year, visitor numbers increased to 58 million —…