New Books Of Interest, October 2016.

• Author: Pearson, Margaret
• Position: Books of Interest - Recommended readings

October 2016

Dear Readers,

As you probably noticed, our last posting contained an announcement that our contributing editor responsible for our "Books of Interest" section (and former editor of this journal) Bill Kiehl was stepping down from that post. This month I am pleased to announce that we have a new contributing editor, Margaret Pearson, who will take his place. Maggie, as she prefers to be known, is, like Bill, a retired senior Foreign Service Officer who enjoyed a long career in Public Diplomacy. Maggie joined the board of American Diplomacy earlier this year. She brings much needed enthusiasm and new ideas to our journal as we move from celebrating our 20th year in existence to the next stage in our journey.

Amb. (ret.) Michael W. Cotter

Publisher, American Diplomacy

Margaret Pearson is American Diplomacy's new Contributing Editor for Books and a former State Department Senior Foreign Service Officer. She is a strong advocate for the importance of public diplomacy in the conduct of foreign affairs. In her 27-year career with the Department of State she has held posts in Asia and Europe as well as Washington, D.C.

After two years of Chinese language training in Washington and Taibei Ms. Pearson became a Cultural Affairs Officer in Beijing in 1981 where she worked on the recently minted Fulbright Program, developed the first U.S. Film Festival in China, and worked with the U.S,, Chinese, and foreign press. On her return to Washington she headed the China Desk at the United States Information Agency. Subsequently, she had two assignments at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, one in the US Mission to NATO's press office and the other seconded to the NATO International Staff as Deputy Director of NATO's Press and Cultural Service. In this position she chaired NATO's Public Affairs Council, managed the awarding of public affairs program grants among NATO member nations, and oversaw the NATO Press and Culture budget. Additional assignments included Public Affairs Advisor for the State Department's Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the breakup of Yugoslavia and the subsequent Bosnian War. Later she took assignments as Press Spokesperson and Director of Information at the US Embassy in Paris and Special Advisor for Eastern European Community Property Affairs (Holocaust and Post-WWII property provenance issues) which she managed from Turkey with frequent travel to Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Prior to her retirement, she was a Senior Examiner and head of the Final Review Panel at the State Department Board of Examiners, the office responsible for evaluating candidates for the US Foreign Service. Ms. Pearson holds a B.A. degree from Tulane University...