Areas of PDC activity, including academic study, professional practice and advocacy
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…
In six days, February 3-8, there have been two successful relief flights for critically injured Yemenis in a devastating civil conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people. These are the first such civilian evacuations since 2016 in the five-year-long war. On February 3, eight seriously wounded patients and their families were airlifted to Egypt…
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…
That pithy reminder popped out near the conclusion of a January 23 public hearing as the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) issued its 70th annual report on the fine art many P.D. specialists spend their lives fostering —effective international dialogues and exchanges here and abroad: genuine two-way communication in many forums. Three members…
“Don’t talk to strangers,” is the advice we’ve all heard growing up from our parents. However, for a young girl from rural Illinois talking to strangers would lead her to countless unexpected moments of spontaneous citizen diplomacy and a rewarding career in public diplomacy. Dr. Sherry Mueller disobeyed her mother’s advice as she boarded a…
After the first dozen days of the New Year, events in the Middle East appeared to be deteriorating daily in a procession of grim setbacks. Can this be reversed in the second dozen days of a new decade? There appears to be no substitute for honest, at times painful dialogue — with other powers informing…
First Monday Forum attendees got a panoramic view of U.S. public diplomacy over the past 70 years through the practiced eye of Dr. Vivian Walker, Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Previewing the Commission’s annual recommendations to the U.S. Congress and public, due out in about one week, Dr. Walker…
Surveying the world scene as a new year and new decade dawns, many would agree, on the basis of events this past year that there aren’t many rays of hope on the horizon. 2019: —As Middle East Institute President Paul Salem describes the year past: “In the Middle East and North Africa, there were five…
This is the Season of the year when we offer family, friends, and colleagues various wishes and positive admonitions – Best wishes for the Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Have a prosperous New Year…Whatever phrases you use, you are letting them know that you hope all unfolds well for them during this special time of…