On June 17, 2015, Meridian International Center collaborated with the U.S. Department of State to present "Getting the People Part Right II: The Human Resources Dimension of U.S. Public Diplomacy in 2015". The report examines how the U.S. Department of State can improve public diplomacy’s effectiveness by rethinking how we are recruiting and selecting public diplomats, improving their training and advancement, and strengthening their influence on policymaking.

lIn a world fraught with local, national and international fissures, animosities, and violent conflict, the Republic of Ireland stands far above the fray as a stellar example of how a country's verve for the written and spoken word can undergird the conduct of its foreign policy. Simply said, Dublin's adroit use of public diplomacy is a lesson for those who are wedded to an overweening dependency on military, political, and economic prowess as the sole instruments to promote and protect national interests.

Seoul’s Senior Public Diplomacy Group led 40 Korea-based bloggers, photographers and foreign correspondents on a tour of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. The Senior Public Diplomacy Group, a Foreign Ministry-affiliated nonprofit organization, to promote the UNESCO World Heritage Site and find out how people from overseas saw it. Participants in the tour also got another chance to take pictures for a photo and essay contest run by the SPDG.

VOI’s Josh Hasten deals with two timely topics: Senator Bernie Sanders and a conference on Israeli public diplomacy. First, he is joined in-studio by HonestReporting’s Yarden Frankl, who discusses a recent NPR interview, in which Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was asked if he held joint US-Israel citizenship. Sanders didn’t take the bait, recognizing that the reporter was insinuating he had dual loyalties.

This trip is a wonderful way for the First Lady to highlight three of our four core policy initiatives -- namely Let Girls Learn, Let’s Move! and Joining Forces. [...] That day, the U.S.

But as years went by, that never happened, and Bakshi realized that platforms like Google and Facebook often failed to encourage people to connect in meaningful, personal ways over long distances.