Intermap

by Craig Hayden

I had the privilege of being on a blogger’s roundtable discussion on September 15 with members of the new Harvard Public Diplomacy Collaborative, where they fielded questions from myself, Patricia Sharpe of Whirled View, and Matthew Armstrong from mountainrunner.us. After participating in the discussion and asking a few questions, I believe the new program is an important development in promoting wider recognition of public diplomacy, while offering some positive steps towards real knowledge production that will benefit the practice of public diplomacy.

continue reading…

by Craig Hayden

James Glassman’s post on Foreign Policy.com is thought-provoking and troubling at the same time. “It’s not about us” builds on the thesis of Admiral Mike Mullen’s argument that the U.S. has misplaced it’s faith in communication programs – public diplomacy – to realize foreign policy objectives. Admiral Mullen’s argument picks up a common refrain among critics of public diplomacy – that deeds matter more than words – and that the U.S. should focus on amending its policies to address the contours of opinion in regions vital to nation security. So what’s wrong with that? Well for starters, I think we’re beyond this observation.

continue reading…