10 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Why Cultural Diplomacy Still Matters In 2027 the Lois Roth Foundation marks a milestone both humbling and energizing: our 40th anniversary. The foundation was established to honor my stepmother, Lois Roth, a Foreign Service officer and cultural attaché who knew that cultural exchange is central, not peripheral, to diplomacy. Steadily, over four decades, we have focused on a small portfolio of programs to support and further U.S. educational and cultural relations—the Richard T. Arndt Prize for an outstanding work on cultural diplomacy being the most recent. Following recent public diplomacy modernization efforts, it is striking that the title of cultural attaché is no longer used at the State Department, with this role now called “public engagement officer.” We believe something real was lost in that transition. The Roth Foundation’s continued use of the term “cultural diplomacy” is intentional and significant. It signals that the realm of scholarship, the arts, and ideas— what many call soft power—remains a quintessential instrument of diplomacy. The world Lois navigated looked different from today’s. But her core commitment to the importance of people-to-people exchanges has only grown more compelling. Fueled by a conviction that transcends politics, Congress continues to fund exchange programs such as the flagship Fulbright Program. The Roth Foundation, too, remains dedicated to supporting international exchanges through our project support grants. In addition, we fund awards that honor cultural diplomacy practitioners, both U.S. and international; an annual Fulbright distinguished lecture; and cross-cultural literature and translation projects. We are not alone in this. Increasingly, states, cities, and citizens are leading the way in cultural dialogue and exchange. California’s strong presence at recent COP conferences is one vivid example. The Fulbright network, spanning more than 160 countries and decades of relationships, is another—a living infrastructure that has stood the test of time. Sister city relationships, university partnerships, and grassroots cultural exchanges are quietly keeping lines of communication open. The legacy of Lois Roth lives on in the everyday people who embody her belief that building bridges of international understanding is always worth the effort. As the foundation marks its 40th anniversary, we invite the foreign affairs community to nominate someone for our Citizen’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy and help us carry the legacy forward. This award honors significant achievement on the part of an ordinary citizen engaged in building cultural bridges across borders. Forty years on, we remain as convinced as ever that people-to-people ties are where diplomacy begins, and where it endures. Skyler J. Arndt-Briggs Chair, Lois Roth Foundation Reston, Virginia Courage in Kinshasa I was pleased to read Lynette Behnke’s thoughtful review of The Elements of Power, my book on lithium, cobalt, and the dirty mining supply chain for battery minerals, in the September- October FSJ. I’d like to respond to one omission Behnke highlighted: She pointed out that my statement that some hybrid vehicles were less polluting than Tesla cars was not footnoted. Mea culpa: I had, however, footnoted it in the book’s introduction, where it first appears (the reference points to pieces in The Washington Post and the French daily Ouest-France, although I also ran my own analysis to check the numbers). It was fascinating to learn as I researched my book that the emissions involved in the making of electric cars, and especially in the building of their batteries, means that when they roll off the factory floor, their production has sadly released much more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than has a hybrid’s. In the U.S. and Europe, a Tesla only catches up in terms of emissions with hybrids after about six years. In China, where electricity comes from coal, that timeline is much longer. On another point, though Behnke mentions it in passing in her review, I want to highlight the courageous work of the State Department Foreign Service officials who helped free me from secret Lois Roth in New York City in the 1950s. COURTESY LOIS ROTH FOUNDATION LETTERS
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