Event: Smart Power, New Media and Public Diplomacy

MITRE Corporation launches a new lecture series titled “Smart Power”. First up is Jeremy Curtin, Coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), on May 27, from 9:00 to 10:00 am. His presentation, “Smart Power, New Media and Public Diplomacy,” will be webcast live at http://www.cpcwebcast.com/state.

Jeremy’s summary:

Mobile technologies, multi-point web-based conferencing, social platforms and web forums provide global reach and access to previously unreachable audiences. To use these tools effectively, we must not only understand the many information environments in which we seek to operate, but also the cultural, economic, political and technological realities of our target audiences.

New media and the new paradigm of smart power communication also demand a level of openness, flexibility and interactivity that government agencies, steeped in a tightly controlled, clearance-based, talking-point culture, can find hard to accommodate. To fully exploit new media, we must embrace innovation, initiative and creativity while seeking to maintain policy discipline and program efficiency. Call it coherent chaos. Done right, new media can become a powerful instrument of smart power.