State Dept in-house tech R&D lab creates tech camps, virtual internships – and draws interest from Fortune 100 companies

WASHINGTON – The State Department's Office of eDiplomacy, the in-house lab for tech innovation and management, was the focus of the June CCLP Washington DC lunch forum. Richard Boly, who directs the office, said the eDiplomacy initiative has been so successful that major companies from Kimberly Clark to Nike have come to study innovations implemented in the State Department. Noting it took diplomacy centuries to moved from wax-sealed envelopes to the telegraph (he called it diplomatic Disruptive Technology 1.0), Boly said the pace of change has compressed from years into weeks and even days. But that reflects his background in……

Technology shifts soft power goals from ‘winning hearts and minds’ to forming relationships

WASHINGTON – Successful deployment of soft power in the 21st century requires rethinking not only methods but also goals. That was the message this week from Nicholas Cull, who spoke at a CCLP forum here this week. Cull, who directs the Masters Program in Public Diplomacy at USC, urged policy makers to shift from "winning hearts and minds" to a new framing, enabled and driven by social media. "It is post-statecraft," said Cull. "It's not about 'hearts and minds.' It's about relationships."……

Digital, social media are major boost US image, message abroad

WASHINGTON – The Internet and social media are providing a major boost for America's image and messages abroad, according to Dawn McCall (pictured right), Coordinator of International Information Programs (IIP) for the State Department, speaking here at a CCLP forum. "The reality for public diplomacy has dramatically changed and so has the environment in which IIP operates today," McCall said. "I am sure no one in this room could have predicted five years ago how differently we would engage with each other today."……

CCLP launches public diplomacy series in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Public diplomacy is the focus of a new series of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy forums that launched last week on August 30th, in Washington D.C. The first program, "The Last Three Feet: Case Studies in Public Diplomacy," was devoted to efforts by the U.S. to establish personal relationships with publics overseas and drew on contributors to the recently published book titled by the same name. The latest book in the Public Diplomacy Series published by the Public Diplomacy Council is now available on Amazon.com, both in paperback and as an e-book. Jean E. Manes, Staff……

WE-NATO: Philip Seib and the Power of Soft Power

To improve NATO's digital connectivity NATO's Public Diplomacy Division hosted a workshop called "The Power of Soft Power- NATO's Public Diplomacy in the Digital World" on Tuesday (27 March) 2012. In this YouTube clip CCLP Faculty Fellow Philip Seib describes soft power as essential in international relations as an important alternative to relying heavily on hard power. In what he sees as the 'information century' Seib believes this is increasingly possible as the internet and social media empowers people by informing them, leading to increased participation in politics and greater democratization. Watch here. Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");……

An interview with Orville Schell and Arthur Ross Director of Asia Society

CCLP Senior Fellow Orville Schell discusses the U.S's military expansion in Asia Pacific. With the recent visit between China's Vice President Xi Jinping and U.S Vice President Joe Biden hosting the foreign diplomat stateside it becomes clear China will have an increasingly important role with U.S foreign policy. In the interview featured by the Examiner online, Schell reiterates the importance of US foreign policy on china and the increased need for diplomacy between the nations. Read the interview in full by clicking here…….

Judith McHale's Departure from the State Department

The article was written by CCLP Faculty Fellow Phil Seib, and was originally posted on the Center on Public Diplomacy blog. Judith McHale's departure from her position as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs presents an opportunity not only to appraise her tenure, but also to consider the future direction of U.S. public diplomacy. McHale's most valuable contribution may have been to structurally reinforce public diplomacy within the State Department. By overseeing the addition of deputy assistant secretaries responsible for public diplomacy throughout State, she took a big step toward increasing the centrality of public diplomacy……

Pakistan and America: The Bad Marriage

The last time I saw Abbottabad, I was in a crowd of a couple of hundred men watching a dancing bear hopping up and down and then wrestling in the dust with the owner's son. The crowd enjoyed it and stayed for the end, the collecting of coins. There was not a lot of entertainment around there; people looked and stopped at anything out of the ordinary. So, like all people, the folks there gossiped about most anything they noticed–say, a million-dollar compound with 18-foot walls and opaque windows three times the size of anything else in what we would……

CCLP Researchers Share Projects with Annenberg Students, Faculty

From technology's impact on public diplomacy to the role of biography in constructing presidential legacy, the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy's (CCLP) diverse range of research projects and policy initiatives on display at the April 13th Policy Research Roundtable. Convened by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan and hosted by CCLP Research Director Mark Latonero (pictured left), the lunchtime event served as an opportunity for the Center to spotlight its key areas of engagement. "We believe that we have an obligation to produce research that makes a difference," Cowan explained to the standing-room only crowd, which included CCLP Fellows……