Grand Synergy: The Private Sector and America’s Strategy in a Changing Global Landscape 

By Hari Choudhari, 2023 FedEx Corporate Diplomacy Fellow The United States faces an unprecedented set of global challenges today. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to climate change and supply chain disruptions, American policymakers face an ever-growing nexus of threats. The Biden administration, in its first National Security Strategy (NSS), framed these threats within the two trends of strategic competition and shared challenges, both of which require the U.S. to put its best foot forward to ensure a “free, open, prosperous, and secure international order,” according to the NSS.    This is a central pillar of grand strategy, i.e., the alignment of means and ends...

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Ukraine: A Watershed Moment for Corporate Diplomacy

By Ambassador Stuart Holliday, CEO of Meridian International Center  Today, companies are the new diplomatic actors central to addressing the world’s shared challenges. A solemn anniversary. February 24th marked one year since the unprovoked, full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Throughout the past twelve months, the response by the Ukrainian forces in effectively driving back the Russian advances has surprised leaders across the globe, none more so than Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the effectiveness of the Ukrainian military’s answer to the invasion is not the only response Putin may have miscalculated. The solidarity of the allied nations in standing...

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Proudly Celebrating and Supporting International Women of Courage

This post was written by Kimberley Fritts is the founder and CEO of Cogent Strategies. For her complete bio, click here. Cogent Strategies is part of the Meridian Corporate Council. It was originally published on Cogent’s blog.   Lending Cogent’s global communications expertise to 11 of the world’s most inspiring women As a female entrepreneur, I am thrilled to be celebrating Women’s History Month alongside Cogent’s exceptional team of female strategists and our fearless female clients. This year, our team has embraced Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in unique ways. Cogent has been at the forefront of global communications, and since...

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Identity, Nationality, and Culture: How Diasporas Make Countries Stronger

This post was written by Puru Trivedi, Meridian’s Vice President of External and Corporate Affairs. This excerpt is from Trivedi’s book, “My Fourth Culture,” available for purchase here. “My Fourth Culture” is a look at the lives of ‘Third Culture’ children, with specific focus on the forces that shaped the author into the person he is today. Third culture kids (TCK)—children of parents who grow up outside of their passport country—have unique issues with identity. Emphasis of the thesis is on the modern TCK and addressing the impact of technology, cultural complexity, transitions and inclusion. The author takes a...

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Salesforce is on a mission to drive meaningful climate action at scale.

The following was written by Eric H. Loeb, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs, Salesforce. Salesforce is part of Meridian’s Corporate Council. Learn more here. For more than a decade, Salesforce has set ambitious climate targets. Climate is a key part of Salesforce’s public policy platform. Salesforce is committed to actively advocating for clear and consistent science-based climate policies that facilitate a just and equitable global transition to a 1.5°C future.   Salesforce considers the planet a stakeholder and believes that business can be a platform for change. As a COP26 partner, Salesforce collaborated with leaders across the globe, focused...

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