In my 19 years at Perry International, I have talked with many diplomats at various consulates and embassies and have worked with tens of thousands of international travelers. I have seen the complications created by the clash of cultures, even before clients leave the United States. Many of them cannot believe that they cannot get what ever they want, when they want it. They have no idea that many other nationalities must setup appointments and travel, sometimes thousands of miles, just to be told that they can not get a visa to come to the United States.
I have also seen a rise in the amount of international news. We seem to be bombarded by events happening around the world that have an impact on us. We are fast becoming global citizens, where we all need to be citizen diplomats. Two organizations that have a great wealth of information to help individual travelers, and thereby help the U.S. and the world are
Business for Diplomatic Action and
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy.