The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy is charged with appraising U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics. The Commission formulates and recommends to the President, the Secretary of State, and Members of Congress policies and programs to carry out the public diplomacy functions vested in the State Department, Broadcasting Board of Governors, and other government agencies, as well as appraising the effectiveness of the public diplomacy policies and programs carried out by government agencies.
There are seven members on the Commission, with “not more than four members may be from one political party.” In February, the White House sent to the Senate four nominations for the Commission. The Commission also includes an Executive Director hired as a civil servant on a two-year appointment.
Today, Matt Armstrong, author and publisher of MountainRunner.us, was sworn in as the Executive Director of the Advisory Commission. The immediate impact is the suspension of blogging, including the publishing of guest posts, at MountainRunner.us.
You may reach the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at 202-203-7463 or by email at pdcommission@state.gov. Visit the website at http://state.gov/pdcommission.
And for your bit of trivia and the “obligatory” mention of Smith-Mundt: The Commission was established by the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 as a result of a June 1947 amendment by Rep. Everett M. Dirksen (R-IL), later Senator Dirksen.
Congrats, Matt! They sure took their sweet time, didn’t they?
Congrats, Matt! If anyone can make some changes, it’d be you.Meanwhile, though, I must say that I’m going to miss the blogging and posts on MountainRunner!!
Congratulations, Matt. Can’t think of a better person to take this on.
Way to go, Matt! Contratulations and well done1Bud
Wow ! Congratulations Matt. Trust me, from a francophone point of view, you deserve it !David
Thanks Matt for your service. It gives me confidence that this effort will pay of for the nation. Best of luck!
Congratulations; at the same time: I am sorry that you will stop blogging.
Congrats! We will miss your blog but i am sure you will do a great job in the Comission. I wish we had a Public Diplomacy Comission in Spain aswell!Regards,
Marta Viñes
Congrats, Matt! Looking forward to seeing the new approach. Best and thanks for blogging and the community built so far!
Fantastic news. Many congratulations from the UK! The best man for the job!Nigel
Congrats Matt … will really miss your blogs (and the guest posts) however.
Congratulations on your new assignment! Will you be commuting from the West coast to the East coast — from USC to DOS — on a weekly, monthly or daily basis?Let’s hope some of your work can be accomplished via the Internet and Skype!
Thanks all for the positive support. Look for some exciting and overdue changes to the Commission as we once again become relevant to the needs of the Government.
Rick,I will am commuting from Los Angeles to DC for the time being. Soon, that commute will be from Chicago to DC.
As far as USC, it is worth noting that the extent of my affiliation with USC is that I teach one class in the Masters of Public Diplomacy program in the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. When this semester ends at the end of this month, that relationship will end as I’ll be in Chicago.