For my blog followers, I spent the past week in China at the World Cities Scientific Development Forum and participating in meetings with some local officals and NGO leaders. (Hence, the flurry of posts.) All in all, a very productive trip. However, I attempted to post to this blog in "real-time" on a number of occasions from China and found it odd that the Blogger site was down for maintence at the exact time I was trying to post...every day. Then it finally struck me. The site isn't down, it was being blocked.
City to city partnerships and citizen diplomacy between the U.S. and China are growing stronger and richer each month. But, this experience was a reminder. Some larger bilateral issues reach beyond the local level and still need to be addressed. We want everyone's voice to be heard.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
E-Conversations on Public Diplomacy & Wading into the Defense Conversation
A couple of notable items on public diplomacy, the war of ideas (see my previous entry on this phrase), the media, and the military’s intersection with sister cities…
I’ve become a quick fan of the blog Mountain Runner, a blog by Matt Armstrong on public diplomacy and strategic communication in the 21st century. It’s a very smart perspective on the discussion and I encourage you to follow the conversation. I’ve seen some very direct and thought-provoking comments to some of the posts. It’s available via RSS.
Armstrong has organized the Smith-Mundt Symposium. “Smith-Mundt” refers to the original 1948 legislation that formalized America’s promotion of international engagement through information, cultural and educational exchanges. It’s had a few amendments over the years and numerous interpretations, but the gathering hopes to spur some common ground on how best to proceed in the current global environment with a new resident at 1600 PA Ave. It has far-reaching implications for the sister cities network. I’ll be attending and write my thoughts afterward.
Another bit of news is a presentation I’ll be making at the 2009 NDIA SO/LIC Symposium in February. A paper I co-authored with Christopher Dufour from Irregular Warfare Support under the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Ops, Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities titled "The Road to Peace, One Person at a Time: Sister Cities International and Its Role in Persistent Conflict" will be a highlight of our presentation. (But, it’ll really be about the power and impact of the sister cities network globally.) It’s a topnotch line-up of keynote speakers with a network of people and perspectives on global engagement that we need to become more fluent in to improve our sister cities work abroad.
I’ve become a quick fan of the blog Mountain Runner, a blog by Matt Armstrong on public diplomacy and strategic communication in the 21st century. It’s a very smart perspective on the discussion and I encourage you to follow the conversation. I’ve seen some very direct and thought-provoking comments to some of the posts. It’s available via RSS.
Armstrong has organized the Smith-Mundt Symposium. “Smith-Mundt” refers to the original 1948 legislation that formalized America’s promotion of international engagement through information, cultural and educational exchanges. It’s had a few amendments over the years and numerous interpretations, but the gathering hopes to spur some common ground on how best to proceed in the current global environment with a new resident at 1600 PA Ave. It has far-reaching implications for the sister cities network. I’ll be attending and write my thoughts afterward.
Another bit of news is a presentation I’ll be making at the 2009 NDIA SO/LIC Symposium in February. A paper I co-authored with Christopher Dufour from Irregular Warfare Support under the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Ops, Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities titled "The Road to Peace, One Person at a Time: Sister Cities International and Its Role in Persistent Conflict" will be a highlight of our presentation. (But, it’ll really be about the power and impact of the sister cities network globally.) It’s a topnotch line-up of keynote speakers with a network of people and perspectives on global engagement that we need to become more fluent in to improve our sister cities work abroad.
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