The 4th Quadrant of Public Diplomacy

Nation states are facing a second wake-up call in public diplomacy. The first wake up call, prompted by the 9/11 attacks, was the realization that perceptions of foreign publics have domestic consequences. The second wake up call, which rang out first for China during the 2008 Olympics, and then for other countries with Wikileaks, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy Movement, is that adversarial publics are able to challenge states in the quest for global public support. How states can effectively respond to this second wake-up call is a pressing area of public diplomacy research. Read More

A Class Act of Diplomacy: Leading with Humility

The last place that the Polish Ambassador to the United States Ryszard Schnepf might have been expected to appear in his first two weeks in Washington was the opening performance of Our Class, the searing play about a dark episode in Poland’s history: the 1941 massacre of Jewish citizens by their Catholic neighbors in Jedwabne. Read More

In the Middle East, a Tipping Point for U.S. Public Diplomacy

DUBAI --- From boil to simmer and back again. It never ends. Political passions in the Middle East do not cool. I have been visiting Arab countries frequently during the past five years, which certainly does not make me an expert. But I have been here often enough to pick up on the change in mood during the past few months. The cautious hopefulness that flowered after the Arab uprisings of 2011 has withered, replaced by a fearful fatalism about what lies ahead. Read More

Smoking guns

Trunk or boot, hood or bonnet? The United States and United Kingdom have so much in common, but there are differences. And when it comes to ‘soft power,’ what young people around the world fear might be in your glove compartment may set us apart. Read More

Australia on the UNSC: Big, Juicy and Decisive

The community of nations at the United Nations has said ‘we like Australia’. Australia’s first round win of the temporary United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat is testament to a strong and effective campaign. Labelled a ‘victory for Australian diplomacy and values’ the UNSC outcome signals a comeback for Australia’s global standing – which has spent a little too many years in the doldrums. Read More

Malala’s People

What does the plight of the brave and bright Malala Yousafzai say about the people of Pakistan, and the future of their relationship with the people of the United States and the West? The world has been feverishly discussing Pakistan’s 14-year old symbol of courage and integrity. I’ve been quiet, even though the area is within my CPD fellowship area of expertise as a Pakistani-American. Read More

Twiplomacy: Worth Praising, but with Caution

The use of Twitter as a diplomatic tool fits in nicely with the new sense of political empowerment that has accompanied the rise of social media. As Internet connectivity rates continue to grow (particularly through the rapidly expanding availability of smartphones), Twitter helps foster an unprecedented sense of community among members of global publics. Read More

UNSC countdown: The public diplomacy challenge to come

As the countdown to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) election intensifies, diplomacy takes a silly turn. Australia, Finland and Luxembourg – competitors in the race - continue to outdo each other in pursuit of the diplomatic prize: a temporary seat on the UNSC. Read More

Why do the Taliban fear Malala Yousafzai more than American missiles?

APDS Blogger: Michael Duffin After 11 years of armed conflict in Afghanistan, a growing number of Americans question the motivation for continuing the United States’ engagement in the region. The reason is Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani female blogger shot twice by a gunman in the Swat Valley on October 9 because she criticized the Taliban’s treatment of the population, particularly their intimidation of girls attending school. Read More

Risk Assessment in Encounters between Culture and Security

Since at least the late 2000s, I have been observing – sometimes organizing, and sometimes participating in – diverse forums featuring different combinations of politicos, policy decision-makers, academics, and applied practitioners, which have broached the relationship between “culture” and “security,” sometimes in overlapping but often in notably different ways. At times, the purpose is to ascertain how new cultural developments might disrupt established security goals. Read More

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