The Public Diplomacy Council and its members, events and activities
1. IKE’S MEMORIAL AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The National Park Service has just opened its fifth presidential memorial off the National Mall. Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the memorial honors Dwight D. Eisenhower, and is appropriately located on Independence Avenue, SW between 4th and 6th Streets, SW, across from the Voice of America. Although it…
1. WHITE HOUSE CEREMONIES AND PHOTO OPS: Veteran Middle East experts, public diplomacy hands, and White House observers will remember two dates that attracted intense international media attention and stimulated great optimism: March 26, 1979, and September 13, 1993. Both marked Middle East peace progress and produced iconic foreign policy photo ops and “deliverables” from the…
Having highlighted some of the Public Diplomacy Council’s new Rising Professional members this summer, I am shifting the series’ focus to feature several of the PDC’s more experienced members in the coming weeks. My intent to highlight the importance of intergenerational learning echoes PDC President Sherry Mueller’s message in her book Working World, coauthored with…
The September 14 First Monday Forum featured two outstanding speakers, Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty and former Los Angeles Times correspondent Paul Richter, author of the book The Ambassadors: America’s Diplomats on the Front Lines. A dynamic husband-wife team, the couple have been regarded as among the best journalists in Washington. With extensive expertise in…
1.DEBATES COMING UP: The nonprofit, non-partisan Commission on Public Debates (CPD) has released the schedule for the important 2020 presidential election debates. The three presidential debates will be September 29 in Cleveland; October 15 in Miami; and October 22 in Nashville. The one vice presidential debate will be October 7 in Salt Lake City. The…
Hans N. (Tom) Tuch was a highly-respected deputy and for some months, acting director of the Voice of America in the late 1970s. I recall the first day of Tom’s tenure at the Voice as controversy swirled anew around whether or not VOA correspondents were U.S. officials, or journalists. It was a day of drama…
Hans N. (Tom) Tuch, an early and persistent advocate of public diplomacy as an indispensable element in the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs, died on September 7, 2020 at his residence in Bethesda,MD. He was 95. The cause of death were complications following a recent fall. His seminal book, “Communicating with the World: U.S. Public…
1.“TRACKING” CURRENT U.S. AMBASSADORS: With the constant turnover in U.S. heads of missions and challenges getting nominees speedy Senate confirmation, it is not always easy to keep track of who today’s ambassadors are. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), therefore, provides a terrific public service by posting a list of who presently is running each…
This next installment of my Q&A Series marks the start of a new chapter; having highlighted some of the Public Diplomacy Council’s new Rising Professional members this summer, I am shifting the series’ focus to feature several of the PDC’s more experienced members in the coming weeks. My intent to highlight the importance of intergenerational…
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…