In her talk, Prof. Bilge Yesil examines Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP’s English-language communication apparatus – focusing on its objectives and outcomes, the idea-generating framework that undergirds it, and the implications of its activities. Dr. Yesil is an associate professor of Media Culture at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island.
At last year’s December First Monday Forum, a panel of Senior Foreign Service Officers discussed the importance of expos in the 21st century. The First Monday Forums are a recurring partnership between IPDGC and the Public Diplomacy Council of America.
The panel comprised of Matthew Asada, U.S. Public Diplomat in Residence 2022–24, Nini Forino, the Director of Alumni Affairs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Beatrice Camp, Senior Advisor at the Department of State on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) shared their experiences and knowledge of these mega-events.
Chairing the panel was Mark Ritchie, former Minnesota Secretary of State and co-founder of Expo USA.
The panelists underscored the significance of expos when it comes to cultural exchange and public diplomacy. Asada had been the Deputy Commissioner of General of the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. “It is important to have an eye for metrics,” he said, outlining the partnership and planning strategies he kept in mind during Expo 2020 Dubai.
Asada broke down expos through four lenses: the governing body, the organizer, the participant, and the spectator. According to him, each of these elements contributed to the advantages and challenges of participating and hosting mega-events that have a large reach.
All the panelists supported the argument that expos do have a place in the 21st century, despite the alternative views in the broader public diplomacy community about their efficiency given the high costs of organizing, building, staffing, and running world expos. To the panelists, expos are platforms that connect people and businesses, and build networks that can have a positive impact.
The main takeaway for the FMF audience was that the opportunities for introducing foreign perspectives and ideas to a country’s national economy and inspiring innovation are – as the saying goes – priceless!
Iceland’s Ambassador talks about the urgency to take on the challenges of climate change
By Alexis Posel, IPDGC Communications Assistant
At the 2023 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture, Iceland’s Ambassador to the U.S., Bergdís Ellertsdóttir, spoke on Iceland’s position on climate change, especially in the Arctic region.
She discussed the challenges that her country has faced advocating for climate change as the most pressing global issue. The Lecture was attended by an in-person audience at GW’s Lehman Auditorium at the Science and Engineering Hall, and live-streamed.
Photo (L-R): William and Patricia Roberts (representing the Walter Roberts Endowment), Ambassador Bergdís Ellertsdóttir, Frank Sesno, Executive Director of Planet Forward, and William Youmans, Director of IPDGC.
Titled “Climate Diplomacy: Communicating with Urgency”, the Lecture featured Ambassador Ellertsdóttir talking about Iceland’s energy development. Being one of the poorest countries in Europe, Iceland began with fossil fuels but started searching for more sustainable energy sources after World War 2. As the world’s largest green energy and electricity producer per capita, Iceland has been using renewable energy for over a century.
“We are powered by 100%. By renewable energy – geothermal and hydro. (It) made perfect economic sense, and…changed our (Icelanders) life drastically,” she said.
Ellertsdóttir noted: “But still, global warming is felt in Iceland, and we can see our glaciers melting. I can see it with my own eyes, I remember the way the glaciers looked when I first traveled. And what they are looking like now is a great difference. (Some) of them have vanished completely.”
The challenge for Iceland is to encourage these efforts on a global scale. Ellertsdóttir explained that the Icelandic government has been working to fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement, … focusing on local municipalities, private companies, and rallying individuals in a collective effort to reduce emissions. The Icelandic Climate Action Plan calls for the country to be independent from fossil fuels by 2050, and carbon neutral before 2040. Currently, efforts are being made to cut greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030.
While she had hopes that research, innovation, and technology will help along the way, she said that governments must lead by example. In fact, current global conflicts show how important it is to focus on energy security.
In taking questions from the audience, Ellertsdóttir answered an undergraduate student, studying International Climate Policy at GW, who asked about public transportation and reducing private car use. “I’m a public transport person,” Ellertsdóttir admitted but noted “For me, it would have been a no-brainer to have like electric cars, electric buses from many, many years ago. (But) people are so attached to their cars… I mean, people get so angry if someone wants to take away the car.”
At the close of the Lecture, Ambassador Ellertsdóttir reminded all that climate action is a human rights and justice issue and needed to be inclusive – women and girls, indigenous groups, rural and urban communities all need to have a seat at the table. “We need champions for our planet”.
This Walter Roberts Endowment, event is organized by the GW Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication with support from Planet Forward, an initiative to teach environmental storytelling to GW students.
Additional information by Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator.
Iceland’s ambassador speaks at the 2023 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture
The 2023 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture will feature HE Ambassador Bergdis Ellertsdottir, Iceland’s ambassador to the U.S.
Ambassador Ellertsdottir (left) will speak on the topic of “Climate Diplomacy: Communicating with Urgency”. In this talk, she will discuss the unique position of Iceland in global debates about climate change, particularly the Arctic region. She will discuss the communication challenges and her country’s advocacy on what scientists recognize as the most pressing global issue.
It is no surprise that Arctic affairs are a top priority for the country. Iceland lies completely within the Arctic, with the Arctic Circle passing through its northernmost community, Grimsey Island (circled), 40 kilometers off its north coast. The effects of climate change are very evident in the receding of Iceland’s glaciers and ocean acidification impacting the surrounding marine environment.
Following Amb. Ellertsdottir ‘s lecture,SMPA Professor Frank Sesno will host a conversation and moderate the Q&A session. Sesno is the Founding Director of Planet Forward, a project of the Center for Innovative Media that teaches environmental storytelling to GW students. The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) and the Walter Roberts Endowment are collaborating with Planet Forward for the Annual Lecture.
Dr. William Youmans, Director of IPDGC, will deliver welcoming remarks at the start of the event.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET(A light reception will be provided at 5:15pm)
First Monday Forum on election cybersecurity as a PD Focus
By Alexis Posel, IPDGC Communications Assistant
Adam Clayton Powell III and Judy Kang, Executive Director and Program Manager respectively of the USC Initiative on Cybersecurity (pictured with Joel Fischman, PDCA President), spoke on the challenges of election cybersecurity in the digital age. Powell and Kang spoke as a part of November’s First Monday Forum, a recurring collaboration between IPDGC and the Public Diplomacy Council of America (PDCA).
The message was simple: adversaries are attacking democratic elections. Powell explained that non-governmental entities access information such as donor lists and contacts to gain entrance into defense facilities that can disrupt campaign operations. After doing so, these entities, mainly from Russia and China, cause chaos and insecurity in election freedom in democratic nations worldwide.
Powell underscored that “ the reality is that we’re in a race with no finish line,” when it comes to solving cybersecurity challenges for democracies around the world. He expressed concern that the upcoming 2024 election may be more vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks than any other election cycle.
The reason, Powell stated, is that there are more common attack vectors worldwide such as weak passwords, multi-factor authentication, social engineering such as phishing, and unprotected data on electronic devices.
The main concern in 2024? Artificial intelligence flooding campaigns and voters with fake videos and misinformation that could falsely sway the electorate.
https://youtu.be/6hZviJy1beQ
The USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative began as a non-partisan project to help educate and protect US campaigns and elections, with support from Google. The initiative expanded in 2022 to include democracies in Europe, Asia, and Africa to exchange best practices in election security.
GW students learn how their academic work contributes to cultural exchange
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
IPDGC’s “Connecting Cultures: Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement Workshop” concluded with final presentations by GW students interested in cultural diplomacy and how this engagement brings US citizens and people from other countries closer. The workshop was a collaboration with the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.
The students who come from different fields of study, had the opportunity to learn the mechanics of cultural programming as John and Amr led discussions about designing relevant cultural programs, navigating foreign environments, developing networks, and exploring different avenues for funding.
The final presentations were creative and combined cultural exchange with education, health and hygiene, and other development needs, as well as knowledge-sharing to promote equality, inclusivity, and tolerance.
Connecting Cultures: Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement Workshop aims to encourage GW students to know more about cultural diplomacy and learn how their studies and professional aspirations can contribute to U.S. global engagement.
The Walter Roberts Endowment provided support to the “Connecting Cultures: Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement Workshop”.
