Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

America’S Public Diplomacy: An Experience At U.S. Embassy Moscow, Kendra Killmer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

I applied to intern for the State Department during the fall of 2001 and was assigned to the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. At first I was perplexed by this appointment because as a major in political science, with a focus on international and comparative politics, I had never been exposed to public diplomacy and the U.S. government’s public diplomacy apparatus. In our political science undergraduate education we were taught about international relations through the organization of government activity, actions of top leaders and specific historical events. I was completely unaware of the practice …