February 2012: The View From CPD

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy prides itself on being forward-looking while remaining grounded in solid academic principles. Our research and publications focus on both traditional and newer forms of public diplomacy, but we are equally interested in what is around the corner.

In this issue of PDiN Monitor, CPD Director Philip Seib offers his thoughts on the future of public diplomacy, advising policymakers and practitioners to increase the sophistication of their work and not lose sight of its strategic purpose. His article is illustrated by a number of charts depicting current trends in public diplomacy news. We expect to provide similar graphics in future issues of PDiN Monitor as they allow the team at CPD to depict in an easily digested manner the key takeaways from our daily news aggregation.

Another new feature launched this month is our “Experts Answer” Q&A section. Given the focus of this particular issue, we asked several international public diplomacy experts to provide their views on the future of their field. Their answers are insightful and we invite you to add your responses in the comments section.

Finally, this issue presents a glimpse of the Republic of Korea’s public diplomacy activities from within, courtesy of the Consul of Political Affairs at the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles as well as an American perspective from Taiwan on the tug-of-war around Jeremy Lin’s cultural identity and its inherent soft power.

As always, your comments and ideas about this issue are welcome, so please continue to post them on our web site or send them via email to cpd@usc.edu.

Best wishes,