For Immediate Release
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy
525 SW 5th Street, Suite A | Des Moines, | IA | 50309
maryal@uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy Applauds Secretary Clinton
for Remarks in Support of Citizen Diplomacy
DES MOINES – May 20, 2009- The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (U.S. Center) commends Secretary Hillary Clinton for her recent remarks in support of citizen diplomacy. Secretary Clinton delivered commencement speeches at the New York University as well as Barnard College last week that were spot on with the U.S. Center’s mission and the goals of the recently released Call to Action and Letter to the President calling for a National Summit for Citizen Diplomacy.
Secretary Clinton said during her NYU address, “There is a time and an opportunity, and with the new technologies available, for us to be citizen diplomats, citizen activists…”
She went on to say that today’s “…changing global landscape requires us to expand our concept of diplomacy,” and that diplomacy has moved past the elite men making decisions behind closed doors and today’s diplomats don’t need to come directly from the State Department or embassies. Each and every one of us has the power to create a citizen diplomacy “brand” that has profound impact on the world.
Secretary Clinton’s message for the students was this, “Be the special envoys of your ideals; use the communication tools at your disposal to advance the interests of our nation and humanity everywhere; be citizen ambassadors using your personal and professional lives to forge partnerships, build on common commitment to solving our planet’s common problems. By creating your own networks, you can extend the power of governments to meet the needs of this and future generations.”
To help “harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats,” Secretary Clinton also announced the creation of Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships, where college and university students will link up digitally with U.S. embassies abroad in an effort to expand diplomacy’s reach through the Internet. The program will be developed over the coming year.
In February, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (U.S. Center) and a national leadership group launched an Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy, intended to strengthen America’s international relationships by dramatically increasing the number of Americans who are engaged globally. The initiative includes a Call to Action and Letter to President Obama asking for support from the administration for a national campaign and summit on citizen diplomacy. The letter to President Obama is available for anyone to sign via the U.S. Center’s Web site: www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org.
The U.S. Center was established in 2006 to promote opportunity for all Americans to be citizen diplomats of the highest order, for their communities and for their country. The Center’s extensive Web site serves as an informational resource for any citizen to get involved in diplomacy activities.
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The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is a national nonpartisan, non-profit organization dedicated to serving the many organizations active in citizen diplomacy through development of resources that enable the establishment of best-practices in citizen diplomacy and the recruitment of persons to serve as U.S. citizen ambassadors to the world. For more information, visit www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org.
To read the full transcript of her remarks, please click here.
