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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

Posts by Daryl Copeland

PD’S MOST FORMIDABLE ADVERSARY: THE SAY-DO GAP
JUN 16, 2009 - 9:08AM PDT
Posted by Daryl Copeland
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Notwithstanding its many virtues, there are all kinds of possible pitfalls associated with public diplomacy.

For starters, PD is done mainly, though not exclusively, by diplomats. Diplomats work for states. States have interests. So when your friendly emissary wants to enjoin you in conversation, it is more likely to be directed rather than free-form. It is almost certain that he or she will be looking for something — a pearl of insight, a gem of intelligence, support for a policy or politician ... something. And that is just one of the many paradoxes which separate the theory of public diplomacy,... FULL TEXT
 
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FIXING FOREIGN MINISTRIES: MESSAGE FROM OZ
APR 1, 2009 - 9:00AM PDT
Posted by Daryl Copeland
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Earlier this month, a blue ribbon panel, appointed in 2008 by Australia’s Lowy Institute for International Policy to enquire into that country's foreign ministry and representational capacity, reported a deep diplomatic deficit and has recommended sweeping reform and major reinvestment. The findings, which include a series of recommendations on public diplomacy, are widely applicable and warrant close inspection.

The short of it, made plain in this and many other studies, is that foreign ministries, and the conventional diplomatic business model which they embody, have not adapted well to the challenges of the globalization era. They are rigid rather than fluid and hierarchic rather than... FULL TEXT
 
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CONNECTIVITY AND NETWORKS RULE: VIRTUALITY, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND THE FOREIGN MINISTRY
NOV 26, 2008 - 10:40AM PDT
Posted by Daryl Copeland
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When USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy embarked on its Virtual Worlds project a few years ago, I admit to being somewhat sceptical. The undertaking seemed, at the time, just too ephemeral, too abstract, too distant from the machinations of realpolitik and the grind of bureaucratic process which I experienced daily as a diplomat.

My thinking, not unlike internet applications, has since migrated.

Since its popular inception in the early 1990s, the epicentre of the internet has continually moved. In less than a decade it has shifted from Web 1.0 — which can be thought of as read/write/broadcast mode — to... FULL TEXT
 
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PD AND COUNTERINSURGENCY IN THE GLOBALIZATION AGE: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN?
JUN 23, 2008 - 11:42AM PDT
Posted by Daryl Copeland
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Globalization is contributing to a growing international divide -- political, economic, cultural, and digital. This gap, characterized by the polarization of wealth and resources and the breakdown of shared goals and identity, has contributed to heightened instability and the generation of conflict. Terrorism and holy war have been among the reactions.

Unfortunately, the West's organizational tools, policy instruments and military doctrine, mired still in Cold War era thinking, appear incapable of responding adequately. Foreign ministries and departments of defense tend to be rigid, compartmentalized and hierarchic; they aren't designed or equipped to connect with populations, forge partnerships with civil society,... FULL TEXT
 
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GETTING DOWN…
DEC 5, 2007 - 11:11AM PDT
Posted by Daryl Copeland
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"There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it."
Lord Acton

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