Strengthening U.S. Statecraft Through Public Diplomacy
From the Fletcher Forum
ASP Fellow Katherine Brown co-authors a report
Katherine Brown and Tom Glaisyer
Strengthening U.S. Statecraft Through Public Diplomacy
President Barack Obama is acutely conscious of the importance of global public opinion; upon entering office in January 2009, he vowed to reestablish the United States as a beacon of liberal ideals. Recent opinion polls, however, display a worrisome gulf between lofty intentions and ground-based realities. The State Department’s 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) posits that public diplomacy should be a core part of twentyfirst-century statecraft. In seeking to effectively reach an amorphous global public, Katherine Brown and Tom Glaisyer, of Columbia University, argue that public diplomacy programs must capitalize on modern technology and be adaptable to rapidly evolving global landscapes.