April 7: Conducting Public Diplomacy in Closed Societies
Join us on April 7 at noon for a discussion of the challenges of conducting U.S. public diplomacy activities in closed states.To register to attend in-person, click here.
To register to watch the Forum via Zoom, click here.
The First Monday Forum is co-sponsored by PDCA and its partners the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and the GWU Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication.
The speakers for the April 7 First Monday Forum are:
Havana
Ben Ziff is a second-generation U.S. Information Agency officer, joining the agency in 1988. Early in his career he was posted to Australia, Israel (twice), Panama, and Peru before serving as PAO in Venezuela, pushing back against Hugo Chavez's authoritarianism; as PAO Italy, prodding the Berlusconi government to support NATO operations against Libya; and as PAO Iraq reestablishing academic and cultural exchange programs after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.Ben was subsequently Deputy Assistant Secretary for European public diplomacy where he set up and chaired the Russian Information Group to fight Russian disinformation. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Colombia and in Spain and, most recently, as Chief of Mission in Cuba before retiring in November 2024. A native of California, Ben received his B.A. from the California State University at Long Beach, his M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and an M.S. from the National War College. He is a recipient of the Department of State’s Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy and speaks Spanish, Hebrew, and Italian.
Moscow
Michael Hurley is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle and the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He joined the Foreign Service with the U.S. Information Agency in 1985, and was posted to Kuala Lumpur, Moscow (three times), Surabaya, and Budapest. In Hungary, Hurley raised more than $300,000 for the Fulbright program from private donors and foundations. In Russia as PAO Hurley was the chief architect of a two-year celebration of culture in the U.S., raising $2 million in the private sector in Russia to create "American Seasons in Russia," culminating in the appearance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. Hurley retired from the Foreign Service in 2015. In 2017 he was hired as a program officer at Meridian International Center where he worked until 2019. In 2023 Hurley was hired on a one-year stint with the State Department’s Global Engagement Center to counter Russian disinformation.
Beijing
Don Bishop: Joining Air Force ROTC in college in time led to his serving in Vietnam, Korea, and at the Air Force Academy, teaching history. During that year and a half in Korea, he met his wife and discovered the USIS American Center in Gwangju, which led him to take the examinations for the U.S. Information Agency, entering in 1979. His first round of Foreign Service posts included Hong Kong, Taegu, Seoul, and Taipei. After three years in Washington, he was sent as PAO to Dhaka, Lagos, Abuja, and Beijing. After three years at the Pentagon as a POLAD, he was PAO in Kabul as the "civilian surge" began. His degrees in history are from Trinity College and the Ohio State University, and he has been a chair and fellow at the Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare at Marine Corps University in Quantico. He is past president of the Public Diplomacy Council and currently serves on the Board of Directors of PDCA partner Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.