The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2023 53 The Journey to Expo 2020 Dubai and Its Legacy Matthew Asada is a U.S. Foreign Service officer currently assigned as the public diplomat in residence at the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy. His research focuses on the delivery of global mega events such as the World’s Fair, World Cup, and the Olympics. He served for five years as the project man- ager and then deputy commissioner general of the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. He is a former AFSA State vice president. The views expressed in this article are his own and not necessarily those of the U.S. government. Expo 2020 Dubai set a precedent for future U.S. participation in world’s fairs, the “Olympics of public diplomacy.” BY MATTHEW ASADA O n March 31, 2022, the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai celebrating “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of the Future” closed its doors. Our last visitors, a local Indian family, exited the pavilion as the U.S. Air Forces Central Band brought down the house with a rousing “God Bless the USA.” Over on the main Expo 2020 stages, Christina Aguilera, Yo-Yo Ma, and Norah Jones finished their concerts, and fireworks rounded out the night. No fewer than 1.5 million visitors from 164 countries had visited the pavilion in six months. There were 5,440 distin- guished “protocol” visitors from 109 countries. Seventy-two youth ambassadors representing 37 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico participated in telling America’s PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: THE COLD WAR AND BEYOND ISTOCK/IREM SOYLER FOCUS