Project Overview

QUESTIONS
In 2003, The Council on Foreign Relations published "Finding America's Voice: A Strategy for Reinvigorating U.S. Public Diplomacy." Among CFR's recommendations was the establishment of a Corporation for Public Diplomacy (CPD), modeled after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to facilitate public-private partnerships in U.S. public diplomacy.

According to the CFR report, the advantages of a CPD include independence from political manipulation, an ability to attract and leverage the resources and energy of the private sector, and a capacity to authentically and creatively communicate U.S. ideas and values, independently of policy. Our project, undertaken for the USC Center for Public Diplomacy, will begin with the assumption that US public diplomacy will be more effective if private sector involvement is increased. The central question of our PAE will be: What would a Corporation for Public Diplomacy -- whose mission is to increase private sector involvement in public diplomacy -- look like?

To determine the answer to this central question, our analysis will consist of finding answers to a series of descriptive, diagnostic, prescriptive, and operational questions:

• What is the current scope of U.S. Public Diplomacy?
• Which players perform which functions?
• What are the goals?
• What are the outcomes?


• What are the current problems/challenges of U.S. Public Diplomacy?
• Why do these problems exist?


• In light of those problems, what elements of public diplomacy are well suited for private sector involvement?
• What aspects of public diplomacy does the private sector most benefit from?
• How can the private sector be encouraged to become involved in public diplomacy?


• How should a CPD be organized to maximize the effectiveness of private sector involvement in public diplomacy?
• What/who would a CPD replace in the current scope of public diplomacy?
• What/who would a CPD augment in the current scope of public diplomacy?


• What organizational models could serve as good examples?
  The Corporation for Public Broadcasting?
  The National Endowment for Democracy?
  The Foundation for International Understanding?


• How would the public-private partnerships in a CPD be structured to create value for both parties and achieve the goals of public diplomacy?

OUTCOMES
Our report will contain the following sections:

• Brief overview of current U.S. Public Diplomacy initiatives
• Brief rationale for the establishment of a Corporation for Public Diplomacy (CPD)
• Mission, goals, and objectives of a CPD
• CPD programs
• Operations and organizational structure of a CPD (main section)
• Implementation and implications of the establishment of a CPD

METHODOLOGY/SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Our report will rely on secondary sources of information, including newspaper and magazine articles, academic journals, government publications as well as phone and in-person interviews with experts and leaders in the fields of diplomacy, media, marketing and arts and culture. We also plan to leverage Kennedy School faculty and resources and the network of the USC Center for Public Diplomacy.

This project is an investigation into the development of public argument around key issues that have defined the representation of the United States in the Middle East since September 11, 2001. By conducting rhetorical analyses of public argument in Middle East media, the project aims to illumine the generative discourse that may have obscured potentially positive mediated depictions of the U.S., such as those offered by U.S. public diplomacy campaigns. This analysis may yield more insight into how local media deflect public diplomacy strategies from cultivating positive opinions about the United States.

Research Associates
Steve Grove
Scott Taylor
USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Advisors
Joseph Nye, Jr.
Nicholas Cull
Joshua Fouts