Click here to download the PD Foundations one-page information PDF.

To learn more, read 22 STATE 135018, introducing the PD Foundations project and PD Foundations learning hub.

Why PD Foundations?

PD Foundations empowers practitioners to adopt shared mental models and ways of working to plan effectively, prioritize ruthlessly, and work collaboratively across sections and missions. 

Published under the authority of R, PD Foundations outlines the core principles that guide the practice of modern public diplomacy, builds a professional identity for PD professionals and practitioners, establishes a common vocabulary for the PD community, and encourages the development of habits of mind and ways of working that improve the efficacy and efficiency of public diplomacy interventions. The PD Foundations learning hub offers the full text of PD Foundations and emphasizes field-focused resources for planning, implementing, and assessing policy-centered, audience-focused, and data-informed PD to achieve measurable foreign policy outcomes.  

Overall, PD Foundations ensures that U.S. public diplomacy work 

1. is situated within broader strategic and policy frameworks, while remaining adaptable to the 24/7 information age and necessities of modern diplomacy; 
2. is transparent and logical; 
3. establishes clear criteria for evaluating the efficacy of public diplomacy interventions; and, 
4. is accountable to policymakers and the American public. 

PD Foundations proposes how public diplomacy sections and practitioners can organize their thinking and work to advance specific policy objectives within the context of a broader Mission effort and in the context of short-, medium-, and long-term strategic priorities. It lays out best practices to employ the Department of State’s public diplomacy efforts to understand and engage key audiences to create, strengthen, or preserve conditions favorable to advance United States Government interests, policies, and objectives through the use of coordinated programs, themes, messages, and products synchronized with the actions of the entire Country Team through strategic planning to advance U.S. foreign policy priorities. 

PD Foundations provides a common vocabulary, framework, and conceptual coherence, but these publications cannot provide context. Context—including local conditions, the domestic political landscape, and the global environment—is the purview of PD practitioners where they operate and is key for taking concepts from PD Foundations and applying them to real-world situations. As the context changes, strategic, operational, and tactical approaches change, even as planning follows the contours of guidance in PD Foundations. Context is likewise critical for developing, at the tactical level, initiatives and interventions that contribute to a coherent strategy. This series of publications is the first attempt at such an extended, systematic articulation, building on decades of field-practice, academic study, and internal efforts to codify concepts, frameworks, and procedures.

The 21st century information environment is dynamic and complex. It demands adept thinking and nimble action. At the same time, the long-term aims of U.S. foreign policy and national security interests demand careful, critical, deliberative thinking about the enduring aspects of diplomacy and international relations. America’s competitors in the information space operate according to an evolving but distinct set of philosophies and approaches, from the Kremlin’s regular use of doctored media and “whataboutism” rhetoric to deflect attention from its own actions, to the Chinese Communist Party’s more recent embrace of aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy. As our competitors’ approach has become more sophisticated and professionalized, we must do the same, independent of the actions of our adversaries. 

Contents and Organization

PD Foundations serves as an authoritative guide and reference for all public diplomacy practitioners in the Department, domestically and abroad. Additions to the PD Foundations project are published as they are ready for distribution. Broadly, publications fall into three categories.

Public Diplomacy in Practice

Publications in this section guide the practice of modern public diplomacy in the field. The primary volume establishes a standard to which PD sections and teams should aspire, rather than a rigid checklist intended to prescribe the day-to-day operations of PD sections that have a variety of competing demands, priorities, and existing workflows. The judgment of PAOs and other leaders is paramount in the practice of modernized public diplomacy operations. This section of the publication is tailored to Public Diplomacy Sections at overseas posts. Other PD professionals may use this volume and adapt it to their purpose (e.g., in a functional bureau based in Washington, D.C.). This publication was first published in October 2022.

Click here to download the complete text as a PDF.  

Contemporary Public Diplomacy

Publications in this section provide foundational material for understanding the practice of public diplomacy in the contemporary world.  These chapters define public diplomacy as a policy tool and explain its strategic logic, articulate how PD relates to U.S. foreign policy and strategic guidance, recount a brief history of PD in the United States, outline how a modernized PD section might work, and explore the future of public diplomacy as a strategic discipline. Moreover, publications in this volume provide a core understanding of PD’s contribution to U.S. foreign policy and national security.

Theories and Concepts for Public Diplomacy

Publications in this section center on the argument that public diplomacy is a body of practice underpinned by a series of concepts and theories derived from a multidisciplinary field of study. Some of the many fields that contribute to a more robust understanding of public diplomacy include strategic studies, communication studies, foreign affairs and foreign policy, international relations, political science, diplomatic history, national security studies, media studies, cognitive and behavioral psychology, public relations, and network analysis.  The publications in this section will present and discuss the most important theories and concepts that influence the practice of modern public diplomacy to achieve the United States’ highest foreign policy objectives.

Public Diplomacy Dictionary

One of the key functions of this project is to develop and record shared vocabulary. Building shared vocabulary is key to building shared communication and high performing teams. The Public Diplomacy Dictionary supplements standard English-language dictionaries and standardizes public diplomacy terminology to improve communication and mutual understanding within the Department of State, and with other U.S. Government departments and agencies.

This publication sets forth standard U.S. government and associated terminology to encompass the public diplomacy priorities of the United States. Created in April 2022, these terms, together with their definitions, constitute approved Department of State terminology for general use by all DOS employees as it relates to the practice of public diplomacy.

Publishing, Maintaining, and Revising PD Foundations 

Guidance that is not regularly maintained and updated quickly loses its utility. The Organizational Learning Unit (OLU) within the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R/PPR) will be responsible for publishing, maintaining, and revising PD Foundations with input from across the R Family and other relevant stakeholders. Parts of this guidance may be incorporated, as appropriate, in the FAM/FAH. Once published, R/PPR will revise and update PD Foundations publications at least bi-annually to incorporate feedback from practitioners who read and use the volumes; to correct errors and clarify concepts; and to reflect changes in theory, practice, and policy guidance. Feedback on any aspect of PD Foundations can be directed to PDLearning@state.gov.