As the new president-elect prepares to take office, traditional analysts scramble to prepare policy papers on their public diplomacy recommendations. In keeping with the twist of the Trump candidacy, it seems fitting to turn the tables and see what insights public diplomacy may glean from the Trump run. Social media, emotion, and identity are redefining traditional strategies, and Trump has exploited these shifting communication dynamics.

From a digital perspective, 2016 has arguably been the year of emotions running high [...] The fact that people are emotional beings is hardly a secret, of course, especially when tragedies or high-stakes political affairs are involved. What digital platforms have brought to the table is a rather new form of commodification of human emotions as instruments of social exchange.

During times of divide, we must look to connect as human beings rather than stereotyping our neighbor and placing each other in categories -- right vs. left, urban vs. rural, educated vs. less educated, etc. Understanding each other in a human sense, and working together to resolve challenges that we face together as a nation, is the only way we will move forward.

The latest headlines should worry all those who follow communications issues. Not only is President-elect Trump’s approach to mass media and public communication radically different from anything that has come before, there is a broad and unnerving debate — with Trump at the center — involving media, policy makers and political partisans over how to regard Russia and its apparent interference in the U.S. Presidential election.

Every presidential transition is a study in contrasts—personality and style, as well as political substance. Yet when Donald C. Trump came to the White House last Thursday, it underlined the fact that this transition is unlike any that we have ever seen. 

It is precisely the syncretism of Halloween that represents the best of America. Despite the anxieties present in society and amplified in the media—ranging from community polarization to violent crime to the erosion of traditional ways—Americans will still take their children door-to-door for neighbors to dole out treats in a sign of trust.

Mexico’s international image is in shambles. Once lauded as a promised land by the international media and markets, Mexico has completely lost its mojo due to an improper administration, plagued by scandals. At the beginning of his administration, President Peña Nieto was widely described as Mexico’s savior.