Professional practice of public diplomacy; tradecraft as opposed to academic study
On October 1, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Tom Kent moves on after two highly successful years at that U.S.-funded network. After service in Washington and Prague for RFE/RL, he’ll be in New York writing and teaching about journalism, disinformation and Russian affairs. Noteworthy achievements during Tom’s RFE/RL tenure: Formal inauguration with the Voice of…
The State Department brought John Matel out of retirement to manage public diplomacy activities in São Paulo for 42 days in August and September, 2018, as “while actually employed.” Before his retirement from the Foreign Service he was Country Public Affairs Officer for Brazil from 2011 to 2014. Paulo Agustoni had been working for the…
After nearly two decades, the U.S. has now rejoined the universe of Global Expos — more commonly known as World’s Fairs. Jim Core, director of the State Department’s tiny restored international expositions unit, is enthusiastic about the prospects. “These fairs,” he said, “are the Olympics of U.S. public diplomacy.” He was addressing the Public Diplomacy…
America’s five publicly-funded overseas multimedia networks now reach a record 339 million curious users worldwide every week. That’s more than 17 billion user contacts a year. The announcement was made September 12 at the National Press Club by John Lansing, CEO of the newly-renamed U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). (The Agency encompassing the five…
The praise was a bit embarrassing, and I am not sure I liked how it was tactically deployed, but the masters of ceremony held up the USA as the paragon of volunteerism, gently disparaging the Brazilian audience, pointing out that only around 4% of Brazilians were involved in volunteer activities. The State Department brought me…
JBJohnsonJoe B. Johnson consults on government communication and technology after a career in the United States Foreign Service and seven years in the private sector. He is an instructor for the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, where he teaches strategic planning for public diplomacy. Read More
Should ambassadors tweet? Perhaps Robert Gates implied the answer should be “no.” The memoir by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, published in 2015, remains required reading for everyone who worked at the embassies, consulates, and Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book allows readers to…
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…
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 —…
Today’s Public Diplomacy practitioners work in a loud, visually saturated, media-intense age when “post-truth,” “many truths,” and “alternative facts” are themes of academic, social, and political debate. They work in many different cultures at a time when the claims of identity, rather than universality and common humanity, gain sway. Issue 47 (2017) of Foam:…