From the Good Neighbor Policy to the Fundacion Amistad: A Useful Historical Reminder for Obama

Cultural historians mostly discourage making cross-history comparisons of important events, since they take place in fundamentally different contexts and the parallels that are drawn are rarely meaningful or useful. With that caveat, I will argue how President Obama's administration might best utilize the soft power of cultural diplomacy by recalling a similarly pivotal moment from March 4, 1933. Read More

May Bad-Mouthing Continue: Iran and the Voice of America

Each time the Iranian Islamic dictatorship condemns the Voice of America by name for broadcasting news of anti-government demonstrations into that country, it can only mean more dollars for the VOA's Persian News Network — and VOA in general — at budget time on Capitol Hill. Read More

When Silence is Golden in PD

An unyielding belief in strength over suppleness — constantly deploying the full force of both the sword and the mouth — may lie at the core of that old warrior Sen. John McCain's criticism that President Obama has been too passive in reacting to Iranian protests against that country's controversial elections. Read More

Public Diplomacy’s Glass Ceilings

Women in public diplomacy have long been confronted with a glass ceiling in Washington. It seems that their male counterparts in PD now see such a ceiling as well. Read More

PD’s Most Formidable Adversary: The Say-Do Gap

Notwithstanding its many virtues, there are all kinds of possible pitfalls associated with public diplomacy. Read More

Pay to Play

As the slots get filled for new U.S. ambassadors, I have to modify my earlier praise: too many sensitive overseas posts are being given to Obama fundraisers. For every Carlos Pascual (veteran envoy now assigned to Mexico), there now appear to be several David Jacobsons (Illinois lawyer and Obama-Biden fundraiser set to go to Canada). South Africa, for example, falls into the latter category: an important country in which the next U.S. Read More

Jefferson on Soft Power: Behind Obama’s Cairo Quote

Like many great orators President Obama knows how to quote scripture to maximum impact. His Cairo speech included passages from the Holy Koran, which his audience applauded. Read More

Passing the Day at Guantanamo Bay: A Video Game is on the Way

What do the following have in common? Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and North Korea’s sentencing of the two American female journalists to hard labor. Answer: Each is relevant to Current TV, a U.S. satellite TV channel and Web site. Read More

From Guantanamo Bay to Pyongyang: The Diplomacy of Deeds

On June 7, North Korea's highest court sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor, a sentence more severe than most had predicted. Read More

Engagement is the New Public Diplomacy or the Adventures of a Euphemism of a Euphemism

President Barack Obama inherited two major public diplomacy problems. The first was the obvious crisis in America's communication with the world and the attendant decline in America's global standing. The second was the identification of the process of public diplomacy with the administration of George W. Bush. It was a paradox. The administration could not summon the cure without reminding people of one of the causes of the disease. The linking of Bush with Public Diplomacy was not wholly fair. The term was brought into its modern use in the U.S. Read More

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