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REPORT URGES RESTRUCTURING, MORE RESOURCES FOR U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
JAN 25, 2005 - 12:44PM PDT
by Adam Clayton Powell III
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 -- U.S. public diplomacy should be centered in a new federal agency with triple the current staff levels, according to a White Paper issued today by the Public Diplomacy Council, a non-partisan organization based here.
The report also recommends permanent off-budget funding for international exchanges, increased funding for international broadcasting and a cabinet-level interagency coordinating committee.
"United States public diplomacy is in crisis," the report stated. "Buffeted by a decade of budget cuts, hampered by bureaucratic structures that marginalize it and call on its expertise too late in the policy process, public diplomacy as currently constituted is inadequate to perform the urgent national security tasks required of it -- to inform, to understand and to influence world publics."
The report prompted a lengthy dissent from some members of the Council who said the recommendations were inadequate to meet the current crisis.
"In our view," the dissenters wrote, "the White Paper draws too heavily on the past and assumes that a restoration of an organization resembling USIA within the State Department, conducting the same programs but enjoying greater resources, will regain United States prestige and leadership on the global stage."
The dissent, in addition to supporting a call for more resources, called specifically for more face-to-face programs and "cultural comprehension."
"We need to conceive of a global communication strategy on the magnitude of our cold war effort with comparable time, societal and resource commitment," the dissent stated.
Read the entire report here.
Read the text of the dissent here.
Read Comments (2) | Add Your Own
 Read Comments:
brianna on January 27, 2005 @ 5:09 pm:
How about a strategy that seeks to inspire instead of impose?
Jacek on February 1, 2005 @ 12:41 pm:
When asked, people say they support or more commonly oppose the U.S. because of U.S. policies. But if you were to give the average person a test on what U.S. policies, they would be unlikely to pass – even if it was a multiple choice test.
So much of what others think of the U.S. comes from our own media and our own entertainment industry. Hollywood producers are our most potent public diplomats. Our official public diplomacy is simply overwhelmed by the negative images. One film by Michael Moore can negate months or years of public diplomacy or image building.
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