If the United States and other nations persist in engaging with China within the realm of public diplomacy, China might be nudged toward increased openness. This could enable the newest superpower to continue to rely on soft power.
John Brown | Posted 05.26.2012
Propaganda is an instrument of war used by a government, primarily but not exclusively, against a present or possibly future enemy, and a democratic government should not propagandize its own people.
Eric Ehrmann | Posted 05.23.2012
Brazil's human rights conundrum is likely to continue with Dilma's recent approval of closer military, intelligence and security cooperation with Washington, ostensibly linked to the World Cup and the Rio Olympics.
Aziz Nayani | Posted 05.18.2012
Pakistan cannot afford to live in international political isolation, and it needs to have an active role and vested interest in securing the safety and sustainability of Afghanistan. An uncooperative, nuclear Pakistan risks instability and violence in the Af-Pak border region.
Philip Seib | Posted 05.08.2012
Public diplomacy involves long-term strategies, and the mix of hopes and concerns so clearly reflected in the responses to the Arab youth survey should be integrated into the planning of public diplomacy programs directed at this part of the world.
John Brown | Posted 05.04.2012
I hereby propose a new portal/site (call it whatever you want) dedicated to total silence. You would click on silence.com, no content/graphics/sound would appear on it.
Philip Seib | Posted 05.01.2012
Presumably, the training of the men and women working at U.S. entry points includes instruction in the religions and cultures of the people they will encounter. In this case, at least, the training didn't work.
John Brown | Posted 04.24.2012
"Any communications strategy plays second to reality. So as long as deaths from misplaced drone attacks, atrocities by soldiers and videos of Abu Ghraib exist, you are not going to fool anyone regardless of how many tweets you send out."
John Brown | Posted 04.21.2012
"Like" is not only America's number one verb, it's, like, its most humongous verbal tic in our, like, most, like, likeable land.
Dr. Stefanie Babst | Posted 04.19.2012
At first glance, NATO and Facebook have very little in common to address the changing nature of public communications jointly, but we have started to collaborate. We believe that instruments of diplomacy, no matter how hard or how soft -- or how smart, for that matter -- bring people together.
Philip Seib | Posted 04.12.2012
NATO is like the Tyrannosaurus Rex -- a fearsome fighter wielding unmatchable hard power. Of course, for the Tyrannosaurus hard power was not enough. It became extinct. NATO is still with us... for now.
Eric Ehrmann | Posted 04.04.2012
Brazil's reluctance to help Washington topple Syria and their support for Iran's nuclear program have drawn the ire of a White House eager to turn foreign policy into political currency during a presidential election year.
Philip Seib | Posted 05.21.2012
For foreign policy strategists, cultural diplomacy has great value as a trust-builder, providing groundwork on which broader, non-arts initiatives can be constructed.
Philip Seib | Posted 04.30.2012
Soft power is precious because it is built upon trust earned over time. But trust requires a willingness to listen. Real friendship cannot survive in a one-way street, but thrives on mutuality and exchange.
Stuart W. Holliday | Posted 04.28.2012
While people are rightly pointing to the power of social media to bring people across societies together, exchanges still represent a key component of public diplomacy. Exchanges offer an in-depth experience with a foreign country, its culture, its systems, and most importantly, its people.
Cynthia P. Schneider | Posted 04.23.2012
The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people to people or arts/culture/media to people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. The programs in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran all contribute to core goals of U.S. policy in those countries.
John Brown | Posted 04.14.2012
"Strategic intellectual competitiveness?" What does that jaw-breaker have to do with the pleasures of the mind -- or, indeed, with our new supposedly collaborative, interconnected new world of the 21st century?
Stuart W. Holliday | Posted 03.25.2012
While the days of a quick fix through quotas and 100 MPG retrofitted Priuses are largely behind us, a number of reasoned engineers, businesspeople, and government leaders have quietly moved forward using the spirit of the boom and the lessons of the bust to their advantage.
John Brown | Posted 03.17.2012
I've looked at/listened to newly-appointed U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul's recent video presentation to the people of Russia. Based on my Foreign Service experience in Moscow as Cultural Affairs Officer (1998-2001), several aspects of the talk struck me.
Philip Seib | Posted 03.14.2012
The Islamists who were once viewed as adversaries by American policymakers are now in the mainstream of Arab politics. In Egypt and other Arab states, their efforts are helping to stabilize emerging democracies. U.S. public diplomacy needs to catch up with this new reality.
Philip Seib | Posted 03.04.2012
Although it is unfortunate that Americans take their political system for granted, it remains a showcase that can enhance America's standing throughout the world.
John Brown | Posted 03.01.2012
No, no need to buy it online -- you already have it in you if you use it! Note: While this product can be used by every human being on the face of the earth, it can be especially useful for diplomats.
Faisal J. Abbas | Posted 01.14.2012
With Lebanon suffering one of the world's slowest Internet connection speeds, it is certainly not surprising that social media hasn't picked up in this country as quickly as it did in other parts of the globe.
Philip Seib | Posted 12.19.2011
For much of the past decade, "soft power" has been touted as a means for making foreign policy more effective by emphasizing enticement rather than coercion, conversation rather than conflict.
Philip Seib | Posted 11.08.2011
Arabs' continuing efforts to fix the broken domestic political systems should be coupled with refocusing Arab perspectives on the rest of the world, and public diplomacy can be a significant part of that process.
Philip Seib | Posted 05.29.2012