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…
1. POTUS AND CODELS — THEY’RE BACK!: Both President (POTUS) Biden and Vice President Harris have taken their first foreign trips since assuming office to demonstrate that the United States is once again showing leadership and consulting with its friends. The President’s destination was Europe for the G7 summit in the UK, the NATO and U.S.-EU summit…
1. A CHILLING WAKE-UP CALL AND THE “INFORMATION WAR”: As Americans — and people around the world — continue to struggle to understand the stomach-churning January 6, 2021 insurrection in the Capitol and the historic second impeachment of President Trump, one concern is crying out for attention: the intersection between democracy and technology. Policymakers, social media…
1.CHAOS IN THE CAPITOL AND DEMOCRACY: Any public diplomacy officer who has ever served in a so-called “banana republic” or Third World country — with authoritarian leadership, muzzled media, unfair elections, weak law enforcement, violence, and corruption — could not have been comfortable with the ugliness they viewed on January 6, 2021. As the rioters…
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…
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…
Exchange of persons programs “are a lot like dark matter.” That was Dr. Allan Goodman’s assertion at the “Hard Case for Soft Power” panel discussion at American University. They’re hard to see, but critical to U.S. “soft power.” Goodman and four other speakers filled a large conference room at the SIS on Monday, February 25…
Picture this: You’re navigating a strange landscape, getting to know the local inhabitants, meeting immediate needs while pursuing long-term aims. You must find your way with a mixture of adroit strategy, effective tactics and tact. How to do it? If the landscape were overseas, many readers of this site – professionals in cross-cultural engagement –…
There is a bill pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that would change the governance structure of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. While the bill is not perfect, it provides a necessary level of accountability and oversight that has been missing for the past two years. The bill, S.3654, would vest authorities into…
There is room for optimism that Congress will reject the Administration’s proposed deep cuts to exchanges programs and to public diplomacy in general. However, if you want to defend these programs, now is the time to speak out. Through our member Sherry Mueller, the Public Diplomacy Council joined major PD advocacy organizations to sponsor “Making…