Professional practice of public diplomacy; tradecraft as opposed to academic study
Summary: Public Diplomacy Officers make valuable contributions to U.S. foreign policy, but some PDOs are uncertain about their vital role in developing policy and how or when to seek to influence policy discussions. The good news is that PDOs are welcome to participate in and thereby improve the interagency foreign policy process. For those still…
In the November 1 First Monday Forum, representatives of Global Ties U.S. gave a fascinating talk about building constituencies for public diplomacy in their communities with business representatives, politicians, and with those who meet with our visitors. And it got me thinking of the role we can play in our own communities. We can all…
Building effective online interaction is all about listening, not technology. By Loren Hurst Some time ago, I noticed the term “ecosystem” began regularly showing up as a descriptor for business and political concepts. Once a term confined to the natural sciences, today we have industrial ecosystems, policy ecosystems, innovation ecosystems, and many others too…
We may differ on the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan, but you may agree on this: What would we have done without Qatar? In the evacuation of American citizens and their allies from Afghanistan, the small Arab state stepped forward as a key enabler, accepting 40 percent of the 113,500 flown out since…
The Biden Administration’s nominee for a major part of U.S. public diplomacy received a favorable hearing from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Assistant secretaries for educational and cultural affairs are traditionally primus inter pares in State’s public diplomacy leadership circle. In 2019, the bureau’s budget was $700.9 million. Only the U.S. Agency for Global Media…
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…
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…
This spring, the Public Diplomacy Council welcomed a new category of Rising Professional members into its ranks. Over the next several weeks, PDC blog readers will have the opportunity to get to know some of these new members via my Q&A series. I was inspired by Olivia Chavez’s interview with Dr. Sherry Mueller (“Wanted: Young…
Interested in citizen diplomacy? Due to globalization, the internet, and long-term democratization trends, citizen diplomacy is likely to grow in the future, becoming a more important part of public diplomacy and international affairs. Citizen diplomacy entails citizen-to-citizen communication and collaboration across borders for political, economic, religious, cultural, educational, or other public purposes. Government funding and…
“One of the great American fallacies is the notion, prevalent among people in all walks of life, that all we need to do is to explain ourselves, our policies, and our way of life to foreign peoples and they will love us — or at least will understand and sympathize with our point of view.” …