May 13

An Observation from your Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review compiler:

In recent weeks "public diplomacy" seems to have lost much of its mass media allure, with this Cold-War term increasingly ignored by pundits and journalists. See John Brown, "Smart Power In, Public Diplomacy Out?" Notes and Essays; image from Washington Times

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Today on the Hill - Capitol Briefing, Washington Post: Senate Foreign Relations (9 a.m.): "Holds a hearing on the nomination of Philip Crowley to be assistant secretary for public affairs; and Judith McHale to be undersecretary for public diplomacy at the State Department.

The nominee testifies. 419 Dirksen." (See below for McHale statement). Image from

Detroit on the Potomac - Patricia H. Kushlis , Whirled View: "[T]he newly minted 'field' of public diplomacy – a hybrid 'discipline' ... draws upon the social sciences, journalism, foreign language and cultural expertise. Public diplomacy is foremost a skill, like it or not, that is most effectively learned from practitioners and best acquired on the job. ... Public diplomacy is, after all, about a government connecting openly with the people, primarily civilians, of other countries. Public diplomacy puts a country’s best foot forward, it makes the best case for a government’s policies and the country’s culture and values, but it does not do so by telling lies." Image from

State Department Official Encourages Dialogue with Muslim World Congressman stresses positive role played by American Muslims - Ralph Dannheisser, America.gov: "President Obama and his administration are fully committed to pursuing 'a deep and positive dialogue with Muslims around the world based on mutual respect and in support of our mutual interests,' according to a key State Department official. The magnitude of the challenges faced makes it vital to go beyond interactions between governments to 'reach out and develop partnerships with all elements of civil society,' said acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Madelyn Spirnak. Public diplomacy, Spirnak said, 'lies at the heart of America’s smart power,' and requires listening and not simply lecturing others. 'We … will not always agree,' she said, 'but we are prepared to listen to and talk with partners with whom we disagree in order to understand each other better and advance mutual interests.'" Spirnak image from

Afghanistan is a media mess, too -

Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Within Afghanistan, can the Pentagon's information operations, the State Department's public diplomacy efforts, and US international broadcasting avoid stepping on one another's toes? USIB, adhering to its credible news mission, is 'not like the others,' and would go its independent way. It would be information operations and public diplomacy whose messages in Afghanistan could clash and should be coordinated." Image from

Lively debate about foreign-owned Arabic television channels - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Don't Let the Facts Get in the Way Of a Good Election - Paul Beckett, Wall Street Journal: "Scene One – The grungy, dimly-lit upstairs conference room at the Press Club of India on Monday afternoon. About 20 journalists, maybe less, sit under the creaking fans; a lone, dusty water cooler surrounded by glasses sits on a table at the back. Two officials from National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms take their seats behind a desk and unveil the latest statistics on the quality of people India gets to choose its politicians from ... . Scene Two – The ballroom of the Hotel Oberoi on Tuesday evening. The invitation reads: Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, cordially invites you to the release of the documentary film 'Indian Elections: A Mammoth Democratic Exercise.'" Image from

Notes about public policy - Steve Coll, Brave New Miliband - New Yorker "May 12 [.] The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is a blogger and likely future Prime Minister (although I would not say that those characteristics are causally linked) will be at New America this morning at 11 A.M. for a live-broadcast roundtable discussion that I will moderate with new media journalists, a.k.a. bloggers. It’s a commendable effort by Miliband to normalize new-media engagements in his public diplomacy." Millibrand/Clinton image from

Kuwait Zain says investment to weigh on profit growth - Arab Times, Kuwait: "An ambitious investment plan will weigh on profit growth at Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunication Co, its chief executive said, as the group vies for a chunk of one of the biggest markets in the Middle East, Iran. Saad al-Barrak said he expects second-quarter net profit to be close to the KD 75.7 million ($261.3 million) it made in the first-quarter, but cost of investments will weigh on this year’s bottom line. ... Barrak further noted that the public diplomacy is a wide-ranging process that involves both government and non-government organs. It lays the groundwork for strong national and international relations which are pivotal particularly at times of hardships, he pointed out."

Richard Holbrooke: Able and Insufferable - John Brown, Huffington Post:

"Bottom Line: The unbearable Mr. Holbrooke wanted to end the war in the Balkans, not start one. And so as the 'PAO' (Public Affairs Officer handling public diplomacy) at the American Embassy in Belgrade it was a privilege to work under -- yes, under -- him." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Obama's right on target in Afghanistan: The president has assembled an impressive military-diplomatic team and strategy that inspires confidence - Max Boot, Los Angeles Times: Victory in a counter-insurgency depends more on securing the populace than on targeting enemy leaders.

Obama Reverses Position on Release of Photos of Detainee Abuse - Michael D. Shear and Scott Wilson, Washington Post: President Obama has decided to oppose the release of several dozen photos depicting abuse of detainees held in U.S. military custody abroad, reversing his previous position on the grounds that the pictures could inflame anti-American sentiment and endanger U.S. troops.

DOCUMENT

Courtesy LB

OPENING STATEMENT OF JUDITH A. McHALE NOMINEE FOR UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

MAY 13, 2009

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is an honor and a privilege to appear before this Committee as President Obama's nominee for Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. I want to thank the President and Secretary Clinton for the trust they have placed in me with this nomination. And I want to thank Representative Van Hollen for that generous introduction. I have been proud to call him my Congressman and my friend for many years, and I am so deeply honored to have him by my side today.

And I’m very pleased to be joined by my friend PJ Crowley, a dedicated public servant and one of this country’s finest communicators.

As the daughter of a U.S.Foreign Service Officer, I was taught that there is no higher calling than public service. When my father was stationed in Apartheid-era South Africa, our home was under police surveillance, friends were detained and mistreated, and I saw what it means to live in a society that is not free. That experience instilled in me the importance of fulfilling our responsibilities as citizens, of public service, and of standing up for what we know is right.

Throughout my life I have tried to live those values. At Discovery Communications, which I helped lead for two decades, we prided ourselves on building bridges of knowledge and information that connected people all over the world and united them around common interests and concerns. And we created the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership to supply free educational video programming to more than half a million students across Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. In my work with organizations such as the Africa Society, the National Democratic Institute, and Vital Voices we helped individuals around the world strengthen their capacity to improve conditions in all sectors of their societies. And in recent years, I have worked to launch an investment fund to support the growth of small businesses and expand economic opportunity throughout Africa.

So it is an honor to be asked by President Obama and Secretary Clinton to join them in spearheading our nation’s renewed engagement with the people of the world.

I believe passionately that public diplomacy is both integral to our foreign policy and essential for our national security.

The communications and information revolution of recent years has changed the attitudes, behaviors and aspirations of people everywhere – and those changes are shaping world affairs to an unprecedented degree.

I saw this transformation as I helped guide the expansion of Discovery Communication’s portfolio of networks, starting with the Discovery Channel and growing to dozens of channels and other media outlets in 170 countries and 35 languages. We believed in engaging people internationally on their own terms, respecting their languages, customs, and interests. And it worked – as a business, but, more importantly, as a way to reach people by evoking the universality of human experience and providing them with information they valued.

So I believe that to secure our national strategic interests in today’s world, the United States must continue to move beyond traditional government-to-government diplomacy and seek innovative ways to communicate and engage directly with foreign publics.

The challenges we face today require a complex, multi-dimensional approach to public diplomacy. We have to listen more and lecture less. And we have to learn how people in other countries and cultures listen to us. We need to understand their interests and aspirations, and use our leadership to provide them with information and services they value. If we do this right, we can forge relationships that become part of their daily lives. They must see their relationship with us, the United States of America, our government, and our greatest asset of all – the American people – as essential to their ability to achieve progress and prosperity, and fulfill their dreams of a brighter future.

As the lead agency for public diplomacy, the task for the State Department will be to catalyze the connections that will foster these relationships.

And we must remember that we are not the only ones who see the potential of increased engagement. China, Iran and others are moving quickly. The Iranian public diplomacy network in the Middle East and beyond includes satellite television and radio networks in several languages, more than 100 newspapers and magazines, and thousands of web sites and blogs.

It is clear we must act boldly and decisively to develop a clear, consistent and comprehensive approach to public diplomacy – and we must do it now.

If confirmed, I will take on this challenge guided by the following core principles:

First: public diplomacy is an essential component of our foreign policy and must be integrated into the policy process at every level, from formulation through implementation. As Edward R. Murrow famously said, public diplomacy needs to be there at the takeoffs, not just brought in to clean up the crash landings. Our decisions must be informed upfront by sound research, and we must endeavor to provide the context to those decisions as they are rolled out rather than after the fact.

Second: our public diplomacy must be run strategically – not just in unconnected, unintegrated programs. An important lesson of recent years is that we must do a better job of thinking and planning strategically, with a clear mission and a steady eye on long-term global goals, accompanied by careful assessment of programs, personnel and expenditures. This will allow us to craft proactive, purposeful and integrated programs that further U.S. policy interests and resonate with foreign publics.

Third: results require resources. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you to ensure that public diplomacy receives the resources and support it needs, and that those resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Fourth: rewards require risk. If we are going to develop new strategies, we must challenge the status quo, and create a culture that nurtures innovation and tolerates risk.

Fifth: new technology, used effectively and creatively, can be a game changer. Communications advances provide unprecedented opportunities to engage people directly, to connect them to one another, and to dramatically scale up many traditional public diplomacy efforts. They provide us the opportunity to move from an old paradigm in which our government speaks as one to many, to a new model of engaging interactively and collaboratively across lines that might otherwise divide us from people around the world. We must create an institutional framework that can take full advantage of new media, with an understanding that these tools must be carefully tailored to particular circumstances and always used in the service of a larger strategy.

Finally: public diplomacy is not something the government can or should do alone. We must tap into the spirit, optimism, and diversity of the American people, including our many Diaspora communities with their deep ties and networks spanning the globe. We face large challenges, and stretched resources. We must take full advantage of public-private partnerships, which can serve as significant force multipliers for our efforts.

I believe these principles can provide the foundation for a new framework for public diplomacy in the 21st Century. But let me be candid, the task will not be easy. Without an operative long term strategic vision or plan for public diplomacy, the effectiveness of our efforts will be, as we have seen before, significantly limited. And the current public diplomacy organizational structure, the legacy of the 1999 merger between the United States Information Agency and the State Department, is less than optimal. We must clarify roles and responsibilities and fully integrate public diplomacy into the State Department culture. In addition, public diplomacy will suffer without enough interagency coordination and with a resource imbalance across agencies. Secretaries Gates and Clinton have both spoken about the need to fix these circumstances.

Fortunately, the seeds of success are already in place. The State Department’s dedicated army of talented career professionals is an incredible asset. Despite concerns about taking risks, innovation is taking root at many of our embassies, where Foreign Service Officers do the important work of engagement every day.

I have been pleased to learn about a number of very promising programs and initiatives, including the Digital Outreach Team that is engaging and debating in Arabic, Persian and Urdu on message boards, blogs and websites in the Middle East and Central Asia, explaining U.S. policies and dispelling misinformation.

Early forays into social networking and new media show real potential. Working with a wide range of private and NGO partners, the State Department last year launched the Democracy Video Challenge, a global online contest that asked citizens to create and post on YouTube short videos expressing their perspectives on democracy. More than 900 people from 95 countries submitted videos, including more than 50 from Iran. Over 70 of our embassies joined the effort, hosting screenings and encouraging local participation. While the numbers remain modest, the early success of the Democracy Video Challenge suggests the power of new communications tools to connect people around the world and foster global dialogues that are truly interactive.

And in country after country, our Foreign Service Officers report real success, even in the most difficult of settings, using English language training as a means of engagement. At Al Azhar University in Cairo, one of the most prominent institutions of Islamic higher learning and a place not always known for its openness to Americans or their ideas, Al-Azhar Islamic Studies faculty members, both male and female, attend American-taught English language programs in a flagship center jointly sponsored by Al-Azhar and the U.S. Embassy. And through the English Access Microscholarship Program, created in 2004, the State Department has provided key language skills to approximately 44,000 low-income high school students in more than 55 countries, including many in the Middle East. For these students, and countless more around the world, English skills are vital tools for achieving their aspirations for a better life. By providing these skills, and other information of value, we can help position the United States as a hands-on partner, forging bonds of common purpose to face shared challenges.

These programs, and many others, are full of promise, but we need to determine how best to scale them up and tie them to a larger strategic vision.

If we marshal all the assets of the government and a full range of outside partners – including more from the American people – harness the potential of communications technologies, and capitalize on the leadership provided by the President and the Secretary, I believe we can significantly improve our public diplomacy.

Let me add that while members of this Committee do a great job including public diplomacy in their travels – giving interviews to foreign journalists, speaking directly to foreign audiences, and participating in programs organized by our embassies – we would welcome more participation across the government. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you to encourage every member of Congress and senior government official to view public diplomacy as a part of their job.

I will look to this Committee for advice and guidance every step of the way if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed. From rebuilding our network of American Centers and strengthening our cultural diplomacy, to ensuring a public diplomacy structure with clear lines of authority and accountability; from striking an appropriate balance between the Departments of Defense and State and maintaining a coherent interagency process, to ensuring that public diplomacy receives the resources and support it needs – your leadership will be absolutely essential.

I believe this is a moment of rare opportunity to renew our nation’s engagement with the people of the world, and restore our reputation as a global force for good.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of this Committee, for your attention to this vital issue and for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. I am happy to answer your questions.