The Foreign Service Journal, October 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2015 47 itself would be constructed, designed, organized, managed and removed by Friends of the USA Pavilion Milan 2015, a private consortium that won the department’s request for proposals in July 2013. In March 2014, Bea Camp, U.S. consul general in Shanghai at the time of the 2010 fair, was recruited as coordinator of the U.S. pavilion in Milan within EUR’s Office of Public Diplomacy. As the only officer assigned in Washington to work on the expo, Camp advises the department, Consulate General Milan and the private- sector team on a range of issues, from determining appropriate content to vetting sponsors. She also coordinates the department’s public messaging on U.S. participation in the expo. In December 2014, Secretary Kerry appointed San Francisco venture capitalist and Obama fundraiser Douglas Hickey as commissioner general for the Milan Expo. Hickey, temporarily accorded the rank of ambassador, is the U.S. pavilion’s chief diplo- mat, fundraiser and executive officer. While other national pavilions have a robust diplomatic pres- ence, the U.S. pavilion has just one dedicated Foreign Service officer, Elia Tello, who holds the title of deputy commissioner general. Working closely with Consulate General Milan and Embassy Rome, Tello coordinates programming and logistical support for official U.S. visitors. For instance, First Lady Michelle Obama visited the U.S. pavilion during her trip to Milan in June and underscored the importance of the fair’s theme by speaking on food security, health and nutrition. Hickey and Tello work alongside 120 bilingual American col- lege students who, through the Student Ambassadors Program, serve as the pavilion’s primary staff, greeting visitors and walking them through the exhibit. Duringmy June visit to the expo, I had the opportunity to speak with Commissioner General Hickey and tour the U.S. pavilion. Ambassador Hickey commented that one of the reasons people were responding so well to the fair was that it is easy to get one’s head around the theme of food diplomacy. “The challenge for future fairs will be to find a relatable theme that will harness the same sort of energy.” Given his professional background, he thought that innovation, technology and entrepreneurship could be promis- ing themes. Perhaps he had his hometown inmind when he spoke; San Francisco has expressed interest in hosting the 2025 expo. Recommendations for Dubai 2020 The next minor and major expositions will be in Astana in 2017 and Dubai in 2020, respectively. Dubai expects roughly 25 mil- lion visitors, 70 percent of them from overseas. The expo will also launch the country’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. It is crucial that the Department of State begin preparing immediately to maxi- mize the public diplomacy opportunities of robust U.S. participa- tion. Ever since USIA consolidation, and the resulting retirement of its institutional memory, the department has had to bureaucrati- cally reinvent the wheel every time there is a major or minor fair. This takes time and energy away from pavilion design, content Congress prohibited federal expenditures on a U.S. pavilion without express congressional authorization and appropriation in 1994.