Public Diplomacy Council Initiatives

Through the activities of its members and collaborative initiatives with the Public Diplomacy Institute, members of the Public Diplomacy Council have contributed to scholarship, professional development and general understanding of new media, digital technologies, and the powerful role of publics in world affairs.

Council members are conscious of the need to develop a new generation of leaders and thinkers who will bring fresh ideas to the challenges of information age diplomacy. During the past year the 50 men and women of the Council have:

• Served as consultants on public diplomacy issues to the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, the Council on Foreign Relations, the General Accounting Office, the embassy of Switzerland, and non-governmental organizations associated with U.S. public affairs and cultural activities;
  
  
• Advised the staffs of the House International Relations Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the public dimension of diplomacy, educational and cultural exchanges, and U.S. communications strategies;
  
  
• Taught courses on public and cultural diplomacy and international communications at The George Washington University, Georgetown University, the National Defense University, Eckerd College, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Syracuse University's Maxwell Washington International Program, and the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California;
  
  
• Conducted public diplomacy training classes at the Department of State's National Foreign Affairs Training Center;
  
  
• Hosted and participated in panel and roundtable discussions on information age diplomacy, educational and cultural exchanges, and the public diplomacy activities of other countries;
  
  
• Participated in international meetings on communication, identity and conflict, the public dimension of regional issues, and new communications technologies;
  
  
• Maintained a dialogue with the Department of State and the National Archives on the preservation of public diplomacy records;
  
  
• Published articles, books, conference proceedings, and policy-oriented publications on information age diplomacy;
  
  
• Assisted scholars and journalists engaged in research and writing on public diplomacy and related issues.