June at WorldBoston Dear Friends, Over the typical year at WorldBoston, we consider all manner of global issues in our various public events. Less publicly, we also engage in diplomacy -citizen diplomacy, that is: We host dozens of international delegations to create connections with local professional resources. As you may know, most of the citizen diplomacy we do is public diplomacy, implementing U.S. State Department initiatives like the International Visitor Leadership Program. So we have noticed that public diplomacy has been having a moment in America. In recent years, important discussions have emerged on the conduct of digital diplomacy, the role of subnational institutions and actors, and now, of course, the effect of the pandemic on our ability to influence perceptions. Further, many observers are questioning the legitimacy of American public diplomacy at a time of acute domestic challenges. At the same time, urgent global events are seemingly calling for a public diplomacy response. Since taking office and his 2021 Democracy Summit, President Biden has stressed the need to defend democracy globally, which he has increasingly emphasized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, citing a global "battle between democracy and autocracy". The topic also figures prominently in this week's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. How will, and how should, public diplomacy respond to these dynamics and to these events? This month, our annual signature The State of the State Department program will address these very questions. We are thrilled to present this timely program live and in-person (and also streamed) at the Boston Public Library once again, and hope you will join us. We hope to see you soon.
Mary P. Yntema President & CEO
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