public diplomacy
Barack Obama’s administration has come under withering criticism for failing to send a top U.S. official to Paris for a high-profile solidarity rally held after last week’s bloody terrorist attacks there. On Monday, Jan. 12, the White House admitted it made a mistake and scrambled to send Secretary of State John Kerry to France to help smooth over any bad feelings.
BBC reports there were “40 world leaders” present. But President Obama wasn’t one of them; Vice-President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry apparently weren’t there, either.(...) Is there some particularly good “smart diplomacy” reason why we would be absent when so many others were present?
The fact that a deepening pessimism concerning Turkey has begun to overwhelm global public opinion with the accumulation of such publications and broadcasts does not escape our notice.
This week in public diplomacy, we saw Turkey focus its efforts on cultural diplomacy.
State Department officials talk about what public diplomacy means to them, the role of Public Affairs Officers, and the importance of the practice in the 21st Century.
This year has seen marked resurgence in the use of hard power by states in pursuit of national interests. Yet, not so long ago, talk in diplomatic, academic and journalistic circles focused on the growing importance of soft power in international relations.
Former U.S. Ambassador Christopher R. Hill’s recent book, Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy, is a memoir that provides much insight into his day-to-day life as an American diplomat in the Balkans, Poland, South Korea, Iraq, and his role in various multilateral negotiations such as Dayton and Six Party Talks on North Korea. Hill, who has worked with six different U.S.
Ottawa is putting more money into a project aimed at communicating directly with Iranian citizens as it looks to apply a similar strategy in other countries including Russia and parts of Iraq and Syria.