Top U.S. Middle East Diplomat Joins USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Veteran Middle East Diplomat to Teach Graduate Students in New Diplomacy Program.

Stephen Seche, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, is the new State Department Diplomat-in-Residence at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Seche will teach a fall semester course in the school’s new Master of Public Diplomacy program and advise graduate students interested in pursuing careers in foreign service.Mr. Seche has been in the Foreign Service since 1978 and has served in public diplomacy positions in Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and India. His USC assignment shows that public diplomacy is a top priority in the future of U.S. foreign policy, he said.

“That the Department of State would assign one of its diplomats to this position reflects the importance it attaches to the contribution USC is making to informed debate on this subject,” Seche said. “I look forward with great anticipation to being a part of the process.”

“We are honored to have a public diplomacy expert of this caliber joining us,” said Joshua Fouts, director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. “Steve brings to the Center a unique combination of scholarly and practical experience, which we hope will further strengthen our efforts to improve the public diplomacy field.”

Seche will be an integral part of the educational experience for the program’s incoming master’s degree students.

“I’m so delighted that our students will have the chance to learn from a distinguished diplomat like Stephen Seche, who has been at the front line of operations in the Middle East,” said Professor Nicholas Cull, Director of the Master of Public Diplomacy program.