Congratulations to the Recipient of the 2013 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper in Public Diplomacy

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is pleased to announce that Lee Yaniv, MPD '14, is the recipient of the 2013 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper in Public Diplomacy. "People-to-People Peace Making: The Role of Citizen Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” was selected from a number of excellent nominations made by faculty in the Master of Public Diplomacy (MPD) program at USC.

In her paper, Yaniv illustrated “the importance and necessity of citizen diplomacy as a vehicle for peace and reconciliation” by examining case studies in four different Track-II diplomacy frameworks: Track-II Talks, Educational Encounter-Based Approaches, Research Centers, and Civil Organizations. Each of these frameworks, she found, adds a unique layer to the informal peace process that contributes to mutuality and understanding between the two peoples. Yaniv concluded that Track-II diplomacy is necessary to achieve lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Angus Simmons, the nominating professor as well as CPD's 2012-2013 Public Diplomat-in-Residence, and professor of the Public Diplomacy in the Islamic World course, for which this paper was written, remarked, "Ms. Yaniv's paper explores a fascinating range of people-to-people/Track-II fora through which dedicated Israelis and Palestinians have reached across to each other to promote understanding -- efforts which remain highly relevant and which reflect the aspirations of the majority of Palestinians and Israelis for peace."

CPD director Jay Wang said, “Lee provides a thoughtful analysis of the different models of Track-II diplomacy. It is outstanding work that will prove valuable to scholars and practitioners.”

Philip Seib, former CPD director, added, “The author presented a broad and sophisticated examination of a topic that remains challenging to all who analyze diplomacy."

About Lee Yaniv

As a candidate for a Master’s in Public Diplomacy at USC, Lee has strong interests in the Middle East, with an emphasis on conflict resolution, divided societies as well as cultural and citizen diplomacy. She hopes to pursue research in these fields following her degree. Prior to Annenberg, Lee graduated with honors from Loyola Marymount University with a BA in communication which she started at the Inter Disciplinary Center of Hertzliya in Israel following her service in the Israeli Army. Upon completing the MPD program Lee hopes to develop a career that involves both advocating for a peaceful nonviolent dialogue as well as promoting mutual understanding between Israel and the international community.

To read the full paper, click here.

To read previous award-winning papers in this collection, click here.

About the CPD Prize for Best Student Paper

Launched in 2009, the annual prize is intended to recognize and publicize an outstanding contribution to the field of public diplomacy by a first year graduate student in USC's Master of Public Diplomacy Program (MPD).