28 Core Competencies for Public Diplomacy Success

Public diplomacy—the practice of engaging foreign publics to advance national interests—requires a sophisticated blend of strategic thinking, cultural awareness, and practical implementation skills. Recognizing this complexity, the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy (R/PPR) developed the Public Diplomacy Framework to aid practitioners in navigating these multifaceted challenges. Whether you’re a seasoned diplomat, a newly minted Foreign Service Officer, or someone interested in how governments communicate across borders, understanding the core competencies that drive effective public diplomacy is essential.

The Public Diplomacy (PD) Framework provides a comprehensive roadmap for practitioners, including 28 essential competencies across five strategic framework elements. These competencies aren’t just theoretical concepts—they represent the practical skills and knowledge areas that enable public diplomacy professionals to navigate complex international environments, build meaningful relationships with foreign audiences, and advance foreign policy objectives through strategic communication and engagement.

Framework Element One: Apply Policy in Context

Develop a comprehensive understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives in the relevant local context to determine the role public diplomacy plays in advancing specific U.S. foreign policy goals.

This foundational element encompasses five competencies that ensure public diplomacy efforts are firmly grounded in policy priorities while remaining sensitive to local contexts:

Competency One: Explain how goals, objectives, and sub-objectives in the Joint Strategic Plan (JSP), Joint Regional Strategy (JRS), Integrated Country Strategy (ICS), and/or Functional Bureau Strategy (FBS) advance U.S. foreign policy priorities.

Competency Two: Analyze how local context affects the reception, development, and implementation of U.S. foreign policy objectives and related public diplomacy interventions in the public sphere.

Competency Three: Articulate and explain the specific role public diplomacy initiatives play in advancing U.S. foreign policy goals.

Competency Four: Conduct a situation analysis to depict the current state and identify aspects of a desired future state under which a particular policy objective could be achieved successfully.

Competency Five: Write clear and concise problem statements that identify and analyze a gap, challenge, or obstacle that is preventing a policy objective from being achieved.

Framework Element Two: Analyze Audiences

Identify specific audiences from among the key stakeholders on an issue and select audience segments whose attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs are most likely to bring about the desired policy outcomes for PD initiatives and activities.

Understanding and engaging the right audiences is critical to public diplomacy success. This element includes six competencies:

Competency Six: Solicit, listen to, and understand the perspectives and priorities of foreign publics relevant to advancing U.S. foreign policy goals.

Competency Seven: Assess and visualize affected and influential audiences (also known as potential audiences) for a particular policy goal and describe their roles within the broader situation analysis.

Competency Eight: Identify and specify the changes required in audience attitudes and behaviors to inform the development of achievable and policy-aligned PD initiatives.

Competency Nine: Define audience segments by consulting existing research and data (e.g., demographics, psychographics, geography, attitudes and beliefs, and preferred communication methods).

Competency Ten: Identify priority audiences whose current or changing attitudes and behaviors are best positioned to advance a specific U.S. foreign policy goal when engaging in PD initiatives and activities, including contact with press and social media.

Competency Eleven: Select and prioritize influential, persuadable, and reachable audience segments to include when designing PD initiatives and activities.

Framework Element Three: Develop Plans

Create actionable plans tied to clear policy aims and measurable objectives to employ appropriate public diplomacy tactics with defined audiences to advance specific U.S. foreign policy goals.

Strategic planning transforms policy goals and audience insights into concrete action. This element comprises five competencies:

Competency Twelve: Prioritize goals, objectives, and sub-objectives from USG strategic guidance to develop PD initiatives and activities that align with U.S. foreign policy goals.

Competency Thirteen: Apply the five-step Design Approach to develop PD initiatives.

Competency Fourteen: Design SMART PD objectives, informed by an initiative hypothesis, that outline the requirements for an initiative or activity’s achievement.

Competency Fifteen: Use a logic model to explain the critical thinking processes the PD team uses when planning a specific PD initiative or activity, including how it supports the ICS, FBS, or other U.S. government policy priorities.

Competency Sixteen: Create and curate relevant and engaging content and experiences designed to move priority audience segments towards specified and desired U.S. foreign policy goals.

Framework Element Four: Manage Effectively

Set a common strategic vision to enable meaningful contributions from the full PD section and other partners and allocate resources to efficiently and effectively implement and monitor public diplomacy initiatives and activities.

Effective management ensures that plans become reality. This element includes six competencies:

Competency Seventeen: Align resources (financial, human capital) to advance selected foreign policy priorities through critical and creative strategic thinking and planning.

Competency Eighteen: Carry out PD initiatives and activities on time and on budget, and in accordance with relevant law, policy, and regulation.

Competency Nineteen: Manage relationships and contacts to strengthen engagement with priority audience segments via PD programs.

Competency Twenty: Identify and manage relationships with key partners to effectively execute internal and external communication strategies and logistic coordination for PD program implementation.

Competency Twenty-One: Develop a common strategic vision for the PD section that guides internal and cross-functional collaboration when planning and implementing PD initiatives.

Competency Twenty-Two: Foster collaborative PD teams that value and encourage expertise and input from LE and American staff, utilizing specific knowledge to improve the overall performance of the entire PD section.

Framework Element Five: Learn and Adapt

Monitor and assess whether public diplomacy initiatives and activities are meeting their objectives: report on outcomes, analyze and share results, collect and refine best practices and lessons learned, and use data to adjust plans and inform future efforts.

Continuous improvement drives long-term success in public diplomacy. This final element encompasses six competencies:

Competency Twenty-Three: Invest in tools, training, and technology to increase PD section and PD practitioner capabilities and capacity.

Competency Twenty-Four: Consult and use existing data and research to make evidence-informed decisions about PD strategic planning, resource allocation, and initiative and activity design.

Competency Twenty-Five: Monitor and report on PD initiatives and activities.

Competency Twenty-Six: Decide which PD initiatives or activities to evaluate. Identify and commit appropriate resources to conduct needed evaluations.

Competency Twenty-Seven: Assess and take calculated risks that enable innovation, growth, and learning.

Competency Twenty-Eight: Collect, distribute, and communicate best practices and lessons learned with fellow PD practitioners, relevant stakeholders, and the broader PD community.

Moving Forward with the PD Framework

These 28 competencies work together to create a comprehensive approach to public diplomacy that balances strategic alignment with tactical flexibility. By developing proficiency across all five framework elements, public diplomacy practitioners can more effectively navigate the complex landscape of international communication, build meaningful connections with foreign audiences, and advance policy objectives in an increasingly interconnected world.

Whether you’re developing your first audience analysis, designing a major cultural exchange program, or evaluating the impact of social media campaigns, these competencies provide a structured approach to thinking through the challenges and opportunities of public diplomacy work. They remind us that effective public diplomacy requires not just communication skills, but a sophisticated understanding of policy, audiences, planning, management, and continuous learning.

As the global information environment continues to evolve, these foundational competencies will help practitioners adapt their approaches while maintaining focus on the core mission: building understanding and advancing shared interests through strategic engagement with foreign publics.