Conflicting Narratives in South Africa
APDS Blogger: Jennifer Yael Green
Nearly twenty years after the end of Apartheid, South Africa is still a country of controversy and conflicting narratives. Read More
Tourism and Hawaiian Culture: Curse and Opportunities
Currently, I am working for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA), a non-profit organization that promotes a greater presence of Hawaiian culture in the tourism industry. NaHHA works “to connect the Hawaiian community and the tourism industry” through “consulting and educating, developing and implementing effective communication tools.” As a contractor of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), NaHHA is the lead agency for State of Hawaii’s initiative to promote Hawaiian culture in tourism. Read More
China and India: Translating Public Diplomacy into Soft Power
Two recent books on China and India have highlighted the rising importance of public diplomacy within the foreign policies of these rising Asian giants. Taken together, U.S. academic David Shambaugh’s China Goes Global and Indian writer and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor’s Pax Indica reveal some telling differences between the way both governments approach the pursuit of soft power. Both books suggest quite divergent outlooks for the two governments in their search for global influence through PD in the coming years. Read More
My Presidential Management Fellowship – From Cyber Security to Grilling Madeleine Albright
Background Read More
A Reporter’s View of Public Diplomacy in the Clinton State Department
The Secretary, by BBC correspondent Kim Ghattas, is a remarkable book. Not only does it provide an insightful record of life on the road with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but also it treats public diplomacy seriously.
This latter point might not seem so special, but it is remarkable how few people understand what public diplomacy is and why it is an essential element of international relations. Rarely do journalists acknowledge public diplomacy’s existence, much less write about it as thoughtfully as Ghattas does. Read More
Cultural Exchange and the Politics of Suspicion
This past week the Washington Post ran a story about the troubles of Russian lawmaker Dimitri Gudkov, assailed by his government for having the temerity to visit the U.S. and address U.S.-Russian relations on Capitol Hill. As the short article explained Gudkov was in the U.S. Read More
MPD in China 2013: The Domestic Question of PD and the MFA
APDS Blogger: Danni Li Read More
Obama’s Hardball Public Diplomacy
President Barack Obama’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never been warm. So while visiting Israel, Obama did not limit himself to the standard rhetorical niceties. He went over the heads of politicians and appealed directly to the Israeli public, especially the young, to make his case for a more flexible approach to negotiating with Palestinians. Read More
Culture Posts: Four Fallacies of Network Public Diplomacy
Recent Culture Posts have highlighted “relationalism,” which emphasizes relations, and by extension, networks. The term network is appearing with greater frequency in all things related to public diplomacy. It seems only a few years ago that Jessica T. Matthew was lamenting the fate of state actors as entrenched hierarchies in “Power Shifts". Read More
Celebrity spokespeople are doubled-edged swords
APDS Blogger: Michael Duffin
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now.”
“Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.” Read More
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