Why We Need to Harden Our Soft Power

Richard Stengel, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, discussed the challenges, and opportunities, of conducting public diplomacy in a complex, hyper-connected world. The event was livestreamed. To watch a video of the full presentation, see below.

Watch the video below for Under Secretary Stengel's Q&A moderated by USC Annenberg's Judy Muller.

About Richard Stengel

Sworn in as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs on February 14, 2014, Richard Stengel provides global strategic leadership of all Department of State public diplomacy and public affairs engagement and oversees the bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Information Programs, and Public Affairs, and the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications.

Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Stengel was the Managing Editor of Time Magazine from 2006 to 2013, which includes print and digital, domestic and international. From 2004 to 2006, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. He was the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University in 1999.
 
From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Stengel worked with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom," and later served as an associate producer of the 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary, "Mandela." Mr. Stengel received an Emmy award in 2012 for his work as executive producer on TIME’s documentary, “Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience.”

Richard Stengel has written for many publications and is the author of several books, including "Mandela’s Way" and "January Sun: One Day, Three Lives, A South African Town." During his career at Time Magazine he also served as the national and culture editor as well as editor of TIME.com.
 
Mr. Stengel received a B.A. from Princeton University and studied English and History as a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford.

To view photos from the event, please click here.