public diplomacy
Christoph A. Geisler, MIMA Media founder and current MPD candidate speaks about the importance of public diplomacy during geopolitical crises. The “Band Together” program, co-sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg and MIMA Music, teaches songwriting, recording, and filmmaking by bringing American facilitators to train Russian musicians and NGO leaders in these skills. St. Petersburg Public Affairs Officer Steven J. Labensky states, “I think more important sometimes than the diplomats speaking to each other, are people speaking to each other.”
The Turkish government's obsession with becoming a global power is providing a study in contrasts: While Turkey has been using civilian planes to transport weapons to Nigeria, it also is employing navy combat vessels to hand out humanitarian assistance in Africa.
Governments worldwide are increasingly facing a fundamental question: how to deal with the causes of violent – often religiously motivated – extremism. They are not short of advice – and from a wide range of sources.
Having recently returned from the International Studies Association (ISA) conference in Toronto, I wanted to share some thoughts with the PD community, and particularly the scholars who for some reason or other couldn’t attend.
Having recently returned from the International Studies Association (ISA) conference in Toronto, I wanted to share some thoughts with the PD community, and particularly the scholars who for some reason or other couldn’t attend. For those who aren’t familiar, ISA is the major annual conference where PD scholars convene, particularly through the International Communication (ICOMM) and Diplomatic Studies divisions. ISA has around 5,000 participants, of which the regular faces working on PD comprise of less than one percent.
For the last month and a half I have been following the Ukraine crisis on my Twitter account, and it has offered an unprecedented way to get a real understanding of what people think about the situation and how they think it should be resolved.
The Crimean crisis hits close to home – very close for many in Sacramento, home to one of the largest Ukrainian diaspora communities in the United States. While targeted sanctions against Russia are about to kick in and the tense situation throughout Ukraine remains unpredictable, American policies going forward are likely to be influenced by Ukrainian nationals over time, even after the story fades from current news cycles.
The Crimean crisis hits close to home – very close for many in Sacramento, home to one of the largest Ukrainian diaspora communities in the United States. While targeted sanctions against Russia are about to kick in and the tense situation throughout Ukraine remains unpredictable, American policies going forward are likely to be influenced by Ukrainian nationals over time, even after the story fades from current news cycles.