On 2 March 2010, I’ll be in Brussels at Conflict Prevention and Resolution: the Role for Cultural Relations, a discussion hosted by NATO, Security & Defense Agenda, and the British Council . The discussion will be in three parts: Why Culture Matters, Case Studies in Cultural Relations in Conflict, and Designing a Cultural Approach to Civil-Military Relations.
Event information, including registration and agenda, is available here. More on the event will appear at www.MountainRunner.us.
At the USC Washington, DC, office Thursday, December 10, 2009:
A reception and discussion to celebrate the publication of The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989, new in paperback.
Discussion to include Dr. Nicholas J. Cull, Professor and Director, USC Master of Public Diplomacy program, and Dr. Michael Schneider, USIA veteran and Professor of Practice, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University
Time and place:
Thursday, December 10, 2009
6:00 pmUSC Washington DC Office
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 540
Washington, DC 20004
(Navy Memorial metro station)
At The Heritage Foundation December 9, 2009, 10a – 11:30a: The Abolition of USIA and Its Effects on U.S. Public Diplomacy. Speakers include Joe Duffey, Bill Kiehl, Stephen Johnson, Robert Schadler and hosted by Helle Dale.
Founded in 1953, the mission of the United States Information Agency (USIA) was to “understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions and their counterparts abroad.” For years, USIA was the U.S. government’s public diplomacy arm, charged with telling America's story abroad. Ten years ago, USIA was disbanded and its functions were folded into the State Department under the management of Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. Since then, U.S. public diplomacy has fallen upon hard times. The new administration has repeatedly proclaimed that U.S. engagement in the world would be revitalized and yet there has been little change at U.S. foreign policy’s lead agency. Our panelists will analyze the changes that U.S. public diplomacy has gone through in the past 10 years and what should be done to improve America’s ability to “understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest.”
I won’t be there but RSVP here if you want to be there. I’m interested in your feedback on the discussion.
Last week at the Heritage Foundation, I sat on a panel with CBS News correspondent Kim Dozier, former Director of External Affairs for FEMA Jonathon Thompson. The panel was moderated by my friend Dennis Murphy, professor at the US Army War College. The two-day event, Homeland Security's Wicked Problems: Developing a Research Agenda for Homeland Security, was webcast live. Our panel was on day 2 of “Wicked Problems” and is now available here or below.
I am third to present, after Jonathon and Kim, and come in around the 43rd minute.
The proceedings for Day 1 are not yet online.
There's an interesting event tonight at Johns Hopkins, Communication Roundtable- Winning Hearts and Minds: American Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century:
What are the biggest challenges for American public diplomacy in the coming years? How will we engage with an increasingly younger and technologically savvy, global population as we move into this increasingly challenging century. Are we winning the battle for hearts and minds? And if so, whose hearts and minds are we winning?
Why is this interesting? Excluding the conversation that will take place during the two-hour event, this is interesting because of the framing by the organizers of the discourse. I'd say the biggest challenge for American public diplomacy today and the coming years is getting away from "battle for hearts and minds", a quaint concept the event's organizers are breathing life into. This is neither a battle to be "won" or "lost" nor do we care about their hearts and the implication of likability. The enduring struggle of the modern world is centered afar and is less about us than enemy propagandists would have us or their target audiences believe. We do not have the luxury of "winning" or "losing" and walking away to celebrate or mope.
“Homeland Security's Wicked Problems: Developing a Research Agenda for Homeland Security” is a two-day event co-hosted by The Heritage Foundation, Center for Strategic and International Studies, The U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership, and The George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute.
The location is The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium and the dates are November 12, Thursday, 9a-4p and November 13, Friday, 9a-12:30p. RSVP to attend.
I will be on the first panel Friday morning at 9:30a: Communications During Crisis: Roles, Responsibilities, and Capabilities. On the panel will be Jonathan Thompson, Executive Vice President, Systems Media Group, and former Director for External Affairs, Federal Emergency Management Agency; Kimberly Dozier, CBS News Correspondent; and Matt Armstrong, Armstrong Strategic Insights Group, LLC. Moderating is Professor Dennis Murphy, Professor of Information in Warfare, United States Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership.
An invitation-only event of interest:
“iDiplomacy: empowering the private sector and citizen diplomats in the digital age” is a two-day symposium that will take place at The Gallup Organization in Washington DC on November 9th & 10th, 2009. Participants come from gaming, filmed media, social media, music, tech, the Military, State Department, the Hill and the private sector. This small, invitation-only symposium will help determine the agenda, host(s), plenary speakers, sponsors and invitees to a much larger conference to take place in 2010 that will be open to the public.
Agenda and presenter bios (which I am one) are here. Symposium attendee bios are here.
Tomorrow, 5 November 2009, from noon to 4p at the SIS Lounge at American University is “Culture's Purpose and the Work of Cultural Diplomacy”:
During a moment of the apparent recommitment in the United States to soft power, smart power, and the relevance of cultural diplomacy, this conference brings together key stakeholders in the future of cultural diplomacy, including members of the policy community, practitioners in public diplomacy, and academic researchers, to examine the relationship between our understanding of how culture works, the expression of democratic ideals, and how cultural diplomacy functions as part of U.S. public diplomacy.
Former Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Jim Glassman will give the keynote. Discussants include Nancy Snow (Syracuse University), Helle Dale (Heritage Foundation), and David Firestein (EastWest Institute, formerly Senior Advisor to the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy), Frank Hodsoll (Resource Center for Cultural Engagement), John Brown (Georgetown University), Kathleen Brion (Public Diplomacy Alumni Association), and Lawrence Wohlers (Smithsonian Institution). Moderators include Craig Hayden, Amb. Anthony Quainton, and Robert Albro.
The full schedule is below. The event is organized by the International Communication Program at American University's School of International Service and co-sponsored by the Public Diplomacy Council and www.MountainRunner.us (yes, I/this blog are co-sponsoring the event).
More information can be found at the website.
A reminder that I’m teaching an evening course next week, Understanding and Engaging Now Media. Held over 3 consecutive evenings, each class is three hours long (6p – 9p) and is intended to make the student more aware and versed in a global information environment shaped by the convergence of “old” and “new” media.
The three sessions are divided into two modules each and include two guest lecturers.
Day 1 (10 November) covers the “Convergence of Old and New into Now Media” and barriers and constraints to operating in this environment that range from speed, trust & authenticity, legislation, and the blurred roles of consumer and producer.
Day 2 (11 November) begins with a recently retired State Department official briefing on State’s use of new media and the lessons learned. The second half of this session expands on this by examining the tools, methods, and reasons to track and engage people, sentiments, and information.
Day 3 (12 November) begins with a presentation, Adversarial Exploitation of Online Video, by an information operator. The session and the course concludes examples from the world outside national security and discussion.
If you are interested, email me or visit the website of the organization hosting the training.
Of possible interest:
Oglivy Exchange's National Security Strategy Lecture Series presents:
Price Floyd
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Public Affairs
Speaking on enhancing communications within the Department of Defense and between the U.S. military and Americans via social media, the new Defense.gov website and other channels.
(Q & A session will follow)Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 11:30 AM - 1 PM.
Lunch will be servedMr. Floyd will discuss using social media to expand communication within the 18 year old to 25 year old demographic, an important audience for recruiting purposes; building a platform to increase feedback from troops and their families; developing a forum for enhanced communication with American citizens; and ensuring operational security of military actions in the age of Twitter and Facebook.
RSVP: Contact Ellen Birek at Ellen.Birek@ogilvypr.com or at (202) 729-4231
DATE: Thursday, Nov.5, 2009
TIME: 11:30 AM - 1 PM, Lunch will be served
WHERE:
Ogilvy's Washington Headquarters
1111 19th St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20036
The course I'm teaching titled "Understanding and Engaging Now Media" is next month. There are a few spots remaining if you're interested. Information and registration is at the AOC website. Updates to the syllabus not online at AOC:
Module 1 - "Convergence of Old and New into Now" - understanding application of the terms new, old, social media; purpose, utility, and use of various platforms
Module 2 - "Understanding" - barriers and constraints as "myths"; transformation of "trust"; errors in reporting; speed of transmission and replication; blurred distinction between news consumers and producers
Module 3 - Guest Speaker G.C.: State Department's use of new media, lessons learned
Module 4 - "Engaging" - operating in the (virtual) first three feet and the last three feet; tools, methods, and reasons to track and engage people, information, sentiments, the "canary in the coal mine"
Module 5 - Guest Speaker A.P.: Adversarial Exploitation of Online Video
Module 6 - Lessons from the Private Sector: two examples; and conclusion
There will be PDFs and recommended material, including recommendations on books, sent before the course to registered participants.
The professional development course "Understanding and Engaging Now Media" examines the convergence of "new media" and "old media" into "now media" with the purpose of educating and empowering the student to be a more effective information actor. Today, news and information is simultaneously instant and persistent, global and local, as it seamlessly moves between print, broadcast, cellular, and social media. Increased access to information changes the relationship between producer and consumer of news and information which in turn creates, engages, and empowers new communities and communications pathways that empower journalists, bloggers, analysts, activists, diplomacy, terrorists, insurgents and nearly everyone else. Understanding this environment, the tools, techniques, and purposes is essential in the modern information environment.
Yours truly, Matt Armstrong, will teach this course over three consecutive evenings, 6p-9p on November 10, 11, and 12 in Alexandria, VA (2 blocks from a Metro stop).
More information and registration can be found at the AOC website.
Right now:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
GW's Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at the School of Media and Public Affairs, in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation, the Walter Roberts Endowment, and the Kennan Institute, is pleased to announce a conference devoted to the 50th anniversary of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, with its famous Khrushchev-Nixon "Kitchen Debate," as well as to the new opportunities for U.S. public diplomacy in a Web 2.0 world.
Conference details are here and watch the live stream right now here.
See also:
An interesting week long seminar advertised by the International Center for Journalists with interesting sponsors [emphasis mine]:
Modern communication course to be held in Tehran
Posted on: 13/07/2009
Basic Journalism
Country: IranTehran's Imam Sadiq University will hold a training course on "modern thinking in theories of communication sciences" from August 1 to 7, media news.ir reported. Registration is being accepted on a rolling basis.
The week-long course will feature topics including: Islam and communication sciences, philosophy and communication and political [communication] and public diplomacy.
The course is sponsored by the students' branch of the Basij force, the Mowlana Foundation, and the Centre for Media Studies and Research in Tehran.
Do you think they’ll cover Twitter or other social media platforms?
Anyone have details on the Mowlana Foundation? @Orbitus and I would like know.
An interesting weeklong event on cultural diplomacy will held in Berlin at the end of this month (27-31 July, 2009).
The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy: The Role of Soft Power in the International Environment
The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy 2009 will bring together a diverse group of participants from across the world for a weeklong program of lectures, social events and panel discussions that will look at the role of soft power in contemporary international relations. The speakers during the week are experts and leading figures from politics, academia, and the private sector.
The following are a selection of the speakers for the Symposium:
- Jorge Sampaio, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Former President of Portugal (1996-2006)
- Joaquim Chissano, Former President of Mozambique (1986-2005), Former Chairperson of the African Union (2003-2004)
- Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Former President of Latvia (1999-2007)
- Cassam Uteem, Former President of the Republic of Mauritius (1992-2002)
- Dr. Vasile Puşcaş, Romanian Minister for European Affairs
- Ints Dālderis, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Latvia
- Borys Tarasyuk, Member of Parliament and Former Foreign Minister of the Ukraine (1998-2000, 2005-2007)
- Dr. Erkki Tuomioja, Member of Parliament and Former Foreign Minister of Finland (2000-2007)
Further information about the Symposium can be found here.
The program brochure, including the timetable, can be found here (2.12mb PDF).
I’d like to be there but won’t be unless somebody decides to fund my trip. Any takers?
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