On August 9, academics, government officials and diplomats assembled to examine, under the co-sponsorship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, the basic questions of why governments communicate with foreign publics. Under the chairmanship of GMF Senior Director for Foreign Policy and Civil Society Enders Wimbush, the group focused on the technology-driven transformation of public diplomacy, gaps in current knowledge on political implications of these changes, and steps to enhance transatlantic cooperation to respond to an increasingly complex global communication environment.

The three principal commentators were David Ensor, Director of the Voice of America; Bruce Sherman, Director of Global Strategy and Research for the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors; and Dr. Philip Seib, Director of the Center on Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California.  Included in the discussion group were representatives from 22 other organizations in Washington, including senior staffers from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, a former U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, representatives from  six European embassies (UK, Canada, France, Poland, Netherlands, and Sweden), two representatives from the Department of State, and academicians from American University.

To read a detailed summary of the event and key findings, click here.

Image from the White House's Flickr Photostream