The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2013

12 JULY-AUGUST 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and impressive U.S. presence at the expo in Korea.” The Public Diplomacy Alumni Association is a volunteer, nonprofit membership organization that is open to all current and former State Department and U.S. Information Agency employees, as well as broadcasting and other public diplomacy professionals from the public, academic and private sectors. Its mission is to foster understanding, recognition of and support for public diplomacy through educational and social activities. For more information about PDAA’s activities, please visit www.publicdiplo macy.org. You’ll also find a complete lis t of PDAA Alumni Association award win- ners since 1993 there. —Steven Alan Honley, Editor Our New Friend, Burma O n May 20, President Barack Obama welcomed Burmese President U Thein Sein to the White House, the first head of state from that country to visit Washington since 1966. The meet- ing—which came only six months after Obama became the first sitting U.S. president ever to visit Myanmar, and less than a year after Derek Mitchell was con- firmed as the first U.S. ambassador to the country since 1990—has many speculat- ing on prospects for closer bilateral ties. Honoring Public Diplomacy’s Best E ffective public diplomacy requires strategic thinking, creativity, com- mitment and sound judgment in the use of resources. Each year the Public Diplo- macy Alumni Association recognizes the achievements of those PD practitioners, whether overseas or in Washington, D.C., that best exemplify these qualities. Although none of this year’s winners were able to attend PDAA’s 16th annual awards dinner, held on May 5 in Wash- ington, D.C., their achievements were spotlighted there. The public affairs section at Consul- ate Peshawar received a group award for its “dedication, courage, creativity, perseverance and unbending profes- sionalism—under challenging and often dangerous circumstances—in building long-lasting ties between the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States.” Despite understaffing and restrictions on their ability to move about outside the consulate, the PAS team managed to expand their all-important outreach work, promote grants programs and other exchanges, culti- vate positive and fruitful working relationships with local journal- ists, expand the consulate’s social media reach, and effectively use music diplomacy to deliver strate- gic messages to key audiences. The individual awardees are: Shayna Cram, public diplomacy officer; Saif Ullah, public affairs specialist; Salman Wahab, public affairs assistant; Shahbano Dur- rani, information assistant; Zee- shan Khan, Information Resource Center assistant; Saqib Jan, social media assistant; and Fakhar Fakhruddin, English-language program assistant. Tashawna Bethea, public affairs officer in Algiers, was recognized for her “exemplary leadership, creativity and professionalism in furthering key embassy policy objectives by using the full range of PD tools—exchanges, Eng- lish-language programs, the Information Resource Center and social media—to broaden relationships between the people of Algeria and the people of the United States.” Nini Forino , now PAO in Hong Kong, was honored for her work as public diplo- macy officer for Korean affairs and the Yeosu Expo coordinator in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The award citation hailed Ms. Forino for her “professionalism and dedication…demonstrat- ing leadership, creativity and perseverance in har- nessing public and private resources to ensure a vital TALKING POINTS ECA Assistant Secretary of State Ann Stock, USA Pavilion Spokesperson Philippe Cousteau, former EAP DAS for PD Jennifer Park-Stout, Nini Forino, USA Pavilion CEO Andrew Snowhite, and former EAP A/S Kurt Campbell at the 2012 YEOSU Expo. PAS Peshawar: (from left) Shahbano Durrani, Saif Ullah, Shayna Cram, Saqib Jan, Fakhruddin Fakhar, Salman Wahab. Tashawna Bethea, PAO Algiers, and Ambassador Henry Ensher.