The Foreign Service Journal, June 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2014 55 AFSA NEWS On April 16, AFSA and the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association welcomed former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley to AFSA headquar- ters. A professor and fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Com- munication at The George Washington University, Mr. Crowley served at the Department of State from 2009 to 2011. He frequently appears as a commentator in print and on television. After AFSA President Bob Silverman and PDAA Vice President Joe O’Connell delivered opening remarks, Crowley addressed what he calls the “say-do gap” between U.S. foreign policy rhetoric and the actions taken. “When you put everything together, we are admired throughout the world for who we are,” Crow- ley explained. “But the world does not like, and in many cases does not understand, what we are trying to do.” Furthermore, he observed, foreign policy decisions are often made without consider- ing their implications for pub- lic opinion. “Just as we have lawyers at the table to weigh the legal implications of our actions, we need to have public diplomacy experts to make sure that the policy and operational benefits outweigh the public conse- quences of those actions.” Because public opinion is becoming increasingly important for the conduct of foreign policy in the age of social media, Crowley noted, it is necessary to engage, connect with and understand the broader public, not just world leaders. Citing the former dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Joseph Nye, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel, Crowley declared: “In the 21st cen- tury, the one with the best story wins. And we do have a great story to tell.” To view the entire event online, please visit www.afsa. org/video. n –Julian Steiner, AFSA Staff AFSA-PDAA Partnership Event: How to Reduce the U.S. Public Diplomacy Deficit P.J. Crowley, speaking at AFSA on April 16. AFSA Welcomes Summer Interns This semester, we welcome a new group of interns to help out with AFSA’s operations. Our interns always make an immense contribution to our work, and we hope they learn as much from us as we do from them. Here is the summer roll call. Communications: Two interns will assist the communications department. Julian Steiner will continue from the previous semester; he is a graduate student at The George Washington University. In addition, Cecilia Daizovi joins the team. She is a rising senior at Purdue University studying public relations and strategic communications. She has a strong Foreign Service connec- tion, as her father is a political officer who recently com- pleted his first overseas tour in the Dominican Republic. The Foreign Service Journal: Aishwarya Raje is a rising junior at Johns Hopkins University majoring in international studies and minoring in Spanish and economics. She is origi- nally from Princeton, N.J. Advocacy and Government Affairs: Timothy Schoonoven is a junior political science major at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, Calif. Originally from Glendale, Calif., Timothy previously spent a semester as an intern for the House Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs. Awards: Evan Bulman will come on board as awards intern. He is from Barrington, R.I., and is a rising junior at Bowdoin College, where he studies economics and political science. Evan was initially drawn to AFSA by his long-term interest in the Foreign Service. Executive Office: Kristen Ricca is studying for a master’s degree in politics at New York University, where her concen- tration is in international affairs. She has an undergraduate degree from James Madison University, and studied abroad in Italy. At NYU, she is a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and the NYU International Relations Association. NEWS BRIEF JULIANSTEINER