Describe the link between U.S. public diplomacy and the social responsibility activities of the ACE award winning businesses.

What will be an ideal response?

Student responses will vary but should include the following key points discussed in the reading: Research has shown that there is a link between social responsibility activities of these enterprises and the reputation of the U.S. in the host countries. The author suggests that through this program, U.S. firms function as third-party mediators for U.S. Public Diplomacy efforts through their global corporate social responsibility activities. Former Secretary of State, Clinton, stated that the core tenets of corporate social responsibility complement both our diplomatic and development efforts and the for many people around the world, the most direct contact they will ever have with the U.S. is through American businesses, who we are and what our country stands for. Through their corporation-to-government and corporation-to-citizen “good deeds,” select U.S. firms fulfill the function of public diplomacy, both relational and mediated, in their global social responsibility activities.