The March 29 edition of the Washington Post carried the sad news of the passing of one of our country’s foremost cultural diplomats: Yale Richmond. Yale’s geographic area specialization was Russia and Central Europe. When he began working in the region, Russia was still the Soviet Union and the United States referred to anything west…
The March 9 edition of the Washington Post carried the sad news of the death of Congressman Amory Houghton of Corning, NY. Congressman Houghton, known as “Amo” to his friends, was a principal heir to the Corning Corporation of Corning, NY. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Amo hung up his spurs…
Public Diplomacy Council member David I. Hitchcock, a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Information Agency for 35 years, wrote a short and clear description of how the Public Affairs Section in Tokyo in the 1980s developed a “plan of action” to advance a U.S. foreign policy goal. Since that time, U.S. Public Diplomacy has…
Ambassador Linda Jewell, who died November 18, was treasurer of the Public Diplomacy Council and a longstanding board member, active up to the time of her passing. She was one of the most distinguished public diplomacy officers of that generation in charge when the U.S. Information Agency was abolished and incorporated into the State Department…
In a few sentences, an older Public Diplomacy officer gave me a key insight about many of the “isms” since the French Revolution – Jacobinism, Marxism, militarism, fascism, Communism, and Islamism among them. And it came from his study of inanimate machines. Here’s the story: In 1985, Arthur J. McTaggart (1915-2003) — a USIA officer…
That will be the question tomorrow when the senior public diplomacy official, Michelle Giuda, appears before the Advisory Commission for Public Diplomacy to discuss the ongoing merger of two bureaus under her aegis. The Council is co-hosting this event with the Advisory Commission at at George Washington University Elliott School’s Lindner Family Commons, 1957 E…
As Americans look back on nearly two decades of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experiences and analyses of a junior officer of the U.S. Information Agency during the war in Vietnam, Douglas Pike (1924-2002), deserve to be recovered. This Public Diplomacy legend’s insights into what and how insurgencies communicate reach beyond Vietnam. They offer…
Boxing great Muhammad Ali traveled to Africa in early 1980. President Carter asked him to persuade African leaders to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow because the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan. Ambassador Lannon Walker was abruptly pulled from negotiations in Angola to accompany The Champ as his diplomatic advisor. This was more than sports…
Why were the hopes for development of new African states so disappointed after they attained independence? Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman J. Cohen took a long view. His conclusions may help Public Diplomacy officers now assigned to Africa think through how best to support the development enterprise. State and USAID officers…
I was surprised and very pleased to be invited to be the commencement speaker this year at Keuka College. I have been working with the College for the past several years on its programs in Viet Nam and elsewhere and came to know several members of the Keuka faculty and administration through our common service…