Public Diplomacy Council (PDC)

Mission

The Public Diplomacy Council is a non-profit organization committed to the academic study, professional practice, and responsible advocacy of public diplomacy.

Its members believe that understanding and influencing foreign publics, and dialogue between Americans and the citizens of other countries, are vital to the national interest and the conduct of 21st century diplomacy.

The Public Diplomacy Council was founded in 1988 as the Public Diplomacy Foundation. Dedicated to fostering greater public recognition of public diplomacy in the conduct of foreign affairs, the Foundation evolved to serve also as a resource and advocate for the teaching, training, and development of public diplomacy as an academic discipline.

In 2001, the Foundation joined with The George Washington University?s School of Media and Public Affairs and Elliott School of International Affairs to establish the Public Diplomacy Institute.

The Foundation changed its name to the Public Diplomacy Council and became a membership organization with an elected board of directors. The Council maintains close ties with the USIA Alumni Association whose president is an ex-officio member of the Council's board of directors.

Objectives

The Public Diplomacy Council is committed to fostering awareness of the public, social, educational, and cultural dimensions of world affairs. In recent years the Council and the Public Diplomacy Institute have become a primary source of information on the academic study of public diplomacy and on legislative and executive branch efforts to strengthen its use as an essential element of statecraft.

Assumptions

• Publics and their opinions matter increasingly in a globalizing world.
  
  
• U.S. statecraft should rely on careful analysis of the public dimension of issues.
  
  
• Informed judgments about global trends depend on an understanding of social and cultural dynamics and public opinion here and abroad.
  
  
• Civil society, the arts and educational communities are crucial intermediaries with counterparts in other nations.
  
  
• Public Diplomacy budgets, training, and recruitment do not reflect the growing importance of public diplomacy.
  
  
• 21^st Century diplomacy will rely increasingly on mastery of modern telecommunications, yet the growth in mass communication
  creates a more urgent need for interpersonal communication.

Purposes

• Increase understanding of the public dimension of world affairs and of public diplomacy as an essential instrument of statecraft.
  
  
• Encourage teaching, research, and writing about public diplomacy.
  
  
• Develop and promote high standards in the professional practice of public diplomacy.
  
  
• Encourage cooperative relations between the U.S. Government and civil society, communications, arts, and educational and cultural institutions.
  
  
• Foster dialogue between the government and non-governmental sector about the changing role of publics in a globalizing world and the impact on publics of new communications technologies.
  
  
• Build the bases for understanding public diplomacy and public perceptions by supporting the preservation of archival materials.

Funding

The Public Diplomacy Council has no government connection and receives no financial support from any government source. It seeks support from foundation grants and corporate gifts.

The Council is a 501(c)(3) organization that relies on the dues, contributions, and volunteer work of its members. Donations to the Council are tax deductible.

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