00:00
Sophs Magnanini
Oak City Move is a podcast on WKNC's 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh, where we highlight people and organizations creating positive change in the Triangle and beyond. Oak City Move can be heard on air every Other Monday on 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh or online at wknc.org Listen for episodes and more information, go to our blog at blog.wknc.org or follow us on SoundCloud at wknc881. Hello, WKNC 88.1 Raleigh. The song you just heard was Swenny linen by Surf Ninja 3. And I'm Sophia Magnanini, your host and this is Oak City Move. Today's episode we have another interview by our great content creator, Brayton Hill, where she's interviewing Adriana Brassart, head of public diplomacy and press at the delegation of the European Union. So, yeah, it's really exciting. Let's get right into it. I'll pass it on to Brayden.
01:17
Breyton Hill
Hello everyone, my name is Breyton Hill and I'm here today with Adriana Brassart. Adriana Brasser is the head of public diplomacy and press at the delegation of the European Union to the United States. So welcome to wknc.
01:30
Adriana Brassart
Thank you for having me.
01:31
Breyton Hill
For those listening who don't know what does it mean to be the head of public diplomacy?
01:36
Adriana Brassart
Public diplomacy is something like public relations, but public relations is what private companies or private individuals do and public diplomacy is what diplomatic missions do. So basically it's what countries, and in this case European Union, which is a group of 27 countries, tries to communicate with audiences in the countries where they are represented. So this case it would be in the United States. So to American audiences.
02:04
Breyton Hill
Gotcha. So what does a day in your life look like?
02:10
Adriana Brassart
It's very diverse, especially now. I could tell you how my standard day should look like and I can tell you how it looks like now if that's.
02:20
Breyton Hill
Yeah.
02:21
Adriana Brassart
So normally, I mean, I have quite a big team that covers all sorts of communications, starting from press media, but also social media and the whole digital side. But also a number of events, public speakings at universities, speaking at think tanks, relationship with think tank. So anything that is public facing, I usually tell people that diplomats usually do the conversation behind closed doors. I do the part that is in the open, in the public and make sure that people know about what we do and what is our role. So starting with that, my day normally will start with reading the news. I need to know what is happening in the world, what is the latest and the second most Important thing is to know what is European Union's position to all the world events.
03:08
Adriana Brassart
So reading up our, what we call lines, what is our opinion on things? Because if I get a question during the day, I need to know. And then it goes into the diversity of things. It can be scheduling press engagements and media interviews, either for the ambassador or for anybody visiting from Europe. Or it can be organizing events. We hold events from small private dinners to big 300, 400, 500 people events in Washington, but also in other parts of the US we do university visits. We work with think tanks. It's really very diverse. And now to come to the second point is because the pace of world events is so fast now, and especially with the current administration, there's so many news my current day looks like.
04:01
Adriana Brassart
I look at the schedule of the White House, I see what will be the public press engagements, because this often define a lot of development in world politics. I adjust the schedule and the schedule of the team today to be. To be able to follow that and then basically act on whatever needs acting during the day.
04:21
Breyton Hill
So your main kind of core day is in D.C. but you also get to travel to universities and that kind of thing.
04:28
Adriana Brassart
That's correct. And we do trips across the US either myself, my colleagues, or we prepare trips for the ambassador or deputy ambassador. We, as the European Union in the United States has an office in San Francisco which usually does relations with the whole tech field and also with authorities in California. We also have another diplomatic mission in New York, but that one deals mostly with United nations. And then we work with a lot of the member states. So European Union has 27 European countries and we work closely with them either in Washington or across the United States.
05:06
Breyton Hill
Oh, wow. So you're very deep into the world of politics, it sounds. So what inspired you to get into that field?
05:13
Adriana Brassart
I was somehow always interested international exchanges when I was growing up. I did sports and I always enjoyed traveling to international competitions, meeting other people from other countries, other cultures, speaking other languages. I ended up learning four or five languages myself with my own effort, not that I would get it from one of my parents. And I always wanted to live and study abroad. So I went to study in Spain, I went to do internship in New York. I moved to Brussels, I moved to Spain again. Now I'm in the United States. I just enjoyed the interaction between different cultures.
05:55
Breyton Hill
Absolutely. That sounds incredible. Do you have a favorite place that.
05:59
Adriana Brassart
You've been favorite place? I think there are places that are amazing for visiting and then there are places that are Great for living. The best place where I lived so far was Barcelona and Spain. A great place that I enjoyed. But I think for certain time is New York. I think it has great energy but very high pace that probably is not sustainable in the long term or you need to have certain mindsets sustaining in the long term. And then there are so many fascinating places around the world. I really like Guatemala. I enjoyed Cambodia. There are many places where I travel that there was always reason why I loved it.
06:39
Breyton Hill
Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong here, but you have also been the international policy officer for the Middle east division. How does that compare to your job now in working with the U.S. it's.
06:49
Adriana Brassart
Not that much different. It's part of the foreign service. But a foreign service has a diplomatic core, a group of diplomats in the headquarters and then it works closely with the network of embassies around the world. When I was dealing with Middle East, I was in the headquarters and working closely with our diplomatic missions in either Lebanon or Syria or Egypt. Now I'm in a diplomatic mission as United States and I'm communicating regularly with headquarters. So in a way it's reverse role. The role of the headquarters is to define the foreign policy, while the role of the diplomatic missions of embassies is to be in the country, observe what's happening in the country, report back to the headquarters to inform the policymaking, or be the messenger of policy that this decided headquarters in the country where they are.
07:43
Adriana Brassart
So now basically, I mean within that twin role, I'm on the other side of the table. I'm reporting back to Brussels. What we experience in the US and in the US Especially as part of my job, I'm trying to pass communicate how we see things with Brussels perspective to make sure that American people know what is the view, what is the opinion of Europe on a number of subjects.
08:10
Breyton Hill
So why should college students care what's going on in the European Union?
08:15
Adriana Brassart
There are millions of reasons for that. Europe and the United States are interlinked and intertwined on so many levels. And I think it's a relationship that is often taken for granted and the importance of it. We realize when it is somehow disrupted. And I think over the past years went through major disruptions either in our trade flows or some of our foreign policy views and opinions and ways of doing things which resulted in companies that invest in the US not being able to create more jobs as they were planning. Some of the trade flows from Europe or to Europe got affected. Recently I was online shopping for something from a European site I was not able to get it or I was able to get it with much higher price. So I think it affects daily life. People just don't always realize how much.
09:08
Adriana Brassart
And let me just maybe dwell also on the European part, because people are often used to dealing with individual countries, with France, with Spain, Italy or Germany, and most of students probably would know those and would travel to those countries. But for doing business in Europe, it's very important to realize the power of the one single market that is established in Europe, which means the 27 countries of the European Union, which spread from north all the way to the south, from west to east, agreed on economic collaboration among them, abolished borders, abolished a lot of transactions and hassles and hurdles that you have when you cross borders. And now you can land in Germany, travel down to Spain, cross one, two or three countries, depends on the road you pick.
09:56
Adriana Brassart
You don't need to take out your passport, you don't need to change money to a different currency. You don't even need to switch your mobile network. Everything is seamless. And that's a huge advantage that again, even in Europe is now being taken for granted.
10:10
Breyton Hill
Thank you for clarifying that. What would you say is the biggest challenge in communicating the European Union policies to the American audience?
10:18
Adriana Brassart
Well, exactly. Did this what you said, A lot of people don't really know it. A lot of people, first of all, don't really recognize the brand European Union. And that's part of my job as well, to make sure that people know more about it. No European flag, which is, you know, you may have seen it, is the kind of dark blue with 12 yellow or golden stars on it. Some people recognize it, some people less. But it's part of, you know, like in private companies you would have that kind of branding strategy and marketing. Well, that's part of our business as well, because we need to know.
10:51
Adriana Brassart
We need to make sure that people know more about your opinion, that it exists, but then also what it is that it is a group of 27 countries, as I explained before, that the 27 countries act together, that they negotiate their commercial relations with other countries, like with the US together, that when you want to travel to Europe, you don't need to ask for a visa to 27 countries, you just need to fulfill entry requirements to one, and then you travel freely across it and all the many different geopolitical implications that right now we have on the world stage. So a lot of things, but important is for people to know what it is and the important role it plays nowadays.
11:32
Breyton Hill
Absolutely. And speaking of the geopolitical mess, I'll say that's going on. How do you combat misinformation?
11:39
Adriana Brassart
Depends how we define misinformation. We have a very strong experience with disinformation, but also in the context of manipulation and foreign interference in our information space. It's been increasing, accelerating since the start of the war invasion of Russia in Ukraine. We have in Europe what we call what's happening a hybrid war. When we have targeted attacks on our not only physical infrastructure, but the societal, not infrastructure, but the society and the divisions within society. And manipulating information flows is important part of it. And we invest a lot in observing, detecting the behaviors, exposing it. You cannot really combat it because it's massive on the scale.
12:28
Adriana Brassart
It's part of state sponsored activity by Russia where you have certain narratives that are spread from the Foreign Ministry of Russia through channels, through network that was set up for purposes of spreading information and then spreading it to many different websites, online platforms, etc. Really confusing people that are not used to that. And a very important element of it is awareness. Just, just know that it's happening and what we call media literacy. Or you can open a website and you think that you're on the website of unknown newspaper. It looks like a newspaper. It has title like of a newspaper. It has articles. You read those articles. You don't realize that website is basically just acting as a recognized newspaper. But it's articles that are being fed by information propaganda coming from Kremlin. This, this kind of acting has been exposed.
13:23
Adriana Brassart
Not everybody's aware of that. But if people learn about it, they become more sensitive to checking the sources that they read where the information is coming from. Especially in the era of AI, when people easily get information from AI sites, it's super important to go and see where the information is coming from. What is the source, who wrote it and what are the sources trusted?
13:46
Breyton Hill
Absolutely. Media literacy is super important. What advice or inspiration do you have for students or especially people interested in journalism or public relations?
13:56
Adriana Brassart
I mean, depends whether it's connected to public diplomacy and the diplomatic world, or whether it's the whole sector of public affairs, which is vast, especially in Washington, where I live now, or communication is such a crucial field right now. As a diplomat, I did not always work in the communication part, but I see more and more how important communication is. Maybe because of the current environment. The information environment is changing so much. Shaping the narrative or making sure that the narrative is out there is super important because it changes. It shapes opinions of people and opinion of people then shape opinions of governments, and it shapes foreign policy and global affairs is all interconnected, but ultimately, often it comes to, you know, who do you follow on. On your social media and how you diversify that and how.
14:47
Adriana Brassart
How do we, as a public affairs experts, make sure that the narrative is out there? So for anybody who wants to work in this field, what I would say is that the field is so vast and diverse that you can really pick your angle as a journalist, you can make sure that the facts are out there and people use it and people are able to access it. As a content creator or somebody active in the digital field, you have really such a vast field that is growing and changing every day. I would just tell people to. To be creative, be out there. It's a field that is. That is so dynamic that you can actually shape it. You can play something out there. If it's successful, you can shape it. You can create new communication channels.
15:27
Adriana Brassart
And if you're interested more in the kind of politics, I would say decide which part of politics, whether it's local, national, international politics, and there are exciting opportunities. I was always inspired. And this brings me back to your first question. I always like the politics, the public service, the public mission. I worked in private companies as well in my career. But I have to say that the fact that shaping public policy and what is happening with countries between nations always excited me more than supply chains of companies. Everybody has different preferences, but if this is what interests you, just. Just follow your dream.
16:09
Breyton Hill
Absolutely. Okay, so we've talked a lot about your career and your work life. What else is important in your life?
16:15
Adriana Brassart
I would say the work life balance, but it would be a bit of a cliche because it's very hard to maintain it right now. But it is important. It's important to be focused and dedicated on what you're doing, but it's important also to leave space for family, friends, hobbies and interests.
16:34
Breyton Hill
Yeah. All right, our last question here. Do you have anything else that you want to talk about that I didn't ask or any misconceptions that you want to clear up?
16:43
Adriana Brassart
I cannot think right now about misconception, but I. What I would say is that I would invite the listeners to. To act with open eyes, look out, explore what is out there, learn about what is happening in Europe as well, and look at it through critical eyes. Because when I look at the different communication channels, we are often fed certain opinions limited to certain topics, and the world is much more diverse. It's not black and white and there are not only three topics that you get from, you know, watching some of the TV channels. There's so much out there. So the curiosity, open eyes, willingness to explore and explore more about the European Union. We, as the European Union delegation in the US we have a newsletter that we send twice a week.
17:32
Adriana Brassart
It's maybe not the most exciting, innovative form, but it gives you overview of the political topics we are dealing with. So if you are somebody who is interested in politics, that's probably a good indication. Otherwise, obviously social media, everybody's trying to be very present on social media and up to speed every day what we are doing in Washington, if that's what you're passionate about, from X or from our Instagram, maybe more X. Because the diplomatic world functions on X. You can see daily updates of what we are doing because especially our ambassador, whenever she has meetings that can be public, she, she tells about them on X. And there are many opportunities for. We do traineeships at the EU delegation in Washington where I would invite people to apply and join us.
18:19
Adriana Brassart
I think we have a call out right now which if you go to the euintheus.org which is our simplified website, you will find the opening that are there's an opportunity to experience the work for the European Union in the US directly.
18:36
Breyton Hill
That's awesome. Thank you so much. The Brayton interrogation. So it's a list of questions that I asked to get to know you rather than what you do.
18:55
Adriana Brassart
Okay.
18:55
Breyton Hill
What's in the best sandwich?
18:57
Adriana Brassart
Avocado.
18:59
Breyton Hill
Ooh, good answer. What is one little thing that could ruin your day?
19:03
Adriana Brassart
Bedwetter.
19:05
Breyton Hill
I agree. What's the best compliment you've ever received?
19:08
Adriana Brassart
I don't know. That's a tough one. Every compliment is pleasant.
19:13
Breyton Hill
What's on your to read list?
19:15
Adriana Brassart
Right now I have about five books, probably midway through. One of them is about Zbig Brzezinski, which was a national security advisor in the US before. Another one is about the soft skills, how to win friends and influence people, which are super useful in diplomacy as well. I have a Harry Potter, a book on my desk. So it's a number wide variety there.
19:37
Breyton Hill
If the world was split into dancers and not dancers, where do you fall?
19:41
Adriana Brassart
Dancers.
19:42
Breyton Hill
Dancers. Me too. Me too. Do you have a no Skip album and if so, what is it?
19:47
Adriana Brassart
I don't. I just put on playlists and get.
19:50
Breyton Hill
The mood rock with the playlist. Absolutely. All right, and last question here. Describe the rest of your life in five words.
19:57
Adriana Brassart
Ideal. Somewhere where the sun is shining where the beach is not too far. And I can wear flip flops the whole day.
20:06
Breyton Hill
That's fantastic. Well, this has been Breyton Hill and Adriana Bressart. Thank you so much.
20:11
Adriana Brassart
Thank you.
