Explaining NATO's public diplomacy:
Video interview with Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Stefanie Babst
18 Sept. 2006 Video interview 
Q: We're sitting in front of the logo for Riga, looking to the upcoming summit in Riga this November. What would you say are the main Public Diplomacy activities planned in the build-up to the Summit?
Babst: Well, the build-up or the so-called run-up phase for the Summit is a very important and integral part of our Public Diplomacy strategy for the Summit, and we started already some months ago in order to prepare the ground for that.
More concretely, we have started to organize a series, a full range of different activities in many, many member countries, including gatherings, meetings with the Secretary General. We took advantage of the Secretary General's various visits to capitals in allied countries. We organized and will continue organizing conferences and seminars.
And to single out one important flagship activity, on the 19th of October, the Secretary General will be hosting his annual conference. For some time already the Secretary Generals of NATO are hosting their annual conferences, so also Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, our Secretary General, will be hosting his conference.
And we opted for London because London is a very interesting city, it's a very lively city, with a very lively business community, so we invited representatives from the London-based business community, together with students specializing in international business affairs, to meet with the Secretary General and other speakers, spend the day and discuss the Riga agenda. So this is clearly one of our flagship activities.
