Public diplomacy is the craft of explaining America, its defense of liberty, and its policies to the world. After 9/11, the U.S. Department of State came under intense scrutiny for widely perceived failures in this mission. In an age when our values, principles, and policies are under attack around the world, our leaders need practical recommendations for how to reform our public diplomacy strategy, doctrine, and structure in order to engage effectively in the war of ideas.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
Understanding America explores how the United States’ commitment to the universal truths of human equality and the right to self-government—as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence—requires a vigilant defense of the cause of liberty, both at home and abroad. Read More.
The Obama Administration’s long-awaited and inaugural Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), subtitled “Leading Through Civilian Power,” was finally released on December 15, almost a year after it was initially promised. Read More.
The U.S. government’s public diplomacy institutions are running on autopilot. While other nations, such as China, are ramping up public diplomacy and soft-power capabilities, the attention of the political leaders in this country is focused elsewhere: the budget deficit, the economy, the presidential election, etc. The effect is that the… Read more
Congress should undertake much overdue oversight of the management practices and structures of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). U.S. international broadcasting needs professional management and a transparent structure and does not have it at the moment. Consistently Inconsistent … Read more
Abstract: On October 1, 2011, Voice of America’s (VOA) Chinese radio service will go silent, as U.S. international broadcasting abandons the airwaves and moves to the Internet. In the burgeoning age of new media, many, including the management… Read more
The U.S. government is struggling to coordinate the volumes of information from the many agencies and departments that make up slices of the public diplomacy and strategic communications pie. Congress needs to use its oversight to evaluate the variety of agencies, set specific goals, and ensure that the… Read more
Abstract: The scheduled autumn visit of China’s next Communist Party General Secretary, Xi Jinping, to Washington is a good opportunity for the U.S. to re-examine its often mismanaged economic diplomacy with China. Policymakers from both parties frequently point… Read more
Proponents of U.S. international broadcasting to China got some reason for hope last month when a group of congressmen, led by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R–CA) produced a letter in support of continued funding for communication to the vast Chinese populace. The congressmen propose to fence off a portion of the… Read more
President Obama will conclude his eighth visit to Europe this week in Poland, where he will attend a summit of leaders of Central and Eastern Europe including the new President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. This visit will be particularly significant as the Administration attempts to correct a series of missteps… Read more
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D–MI), ranking member John McCain (R–AZ), and Senator Jim Webb (D–VA) have called on the United States to overhaul two complex military realignment agreements with South Korea and Japan. Their proposals would undermine years of carefully crafted diplomacy that achieved U.S. strategic objectives… Read more
The global reaction to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden must have taken the Obama Administration by surprise. While not 100 percent positive, the reaction to the terrorist mastermind’s killing by U.S. Navy SEALs has been one of great international relief. The presidential decision not to release the… Read more
Nile Gardiner discusses the UN's spending spree. … Read more
Abstract: American statecraft has been grounded, both morally and philosophically, in the principles of human liberty and America’s sense of justice. Thus, the true consistency of American foreign policy is to be found not in its policies, which… Read more
Abstract: Multilateral diplomacy is challenging. The dynamics are often more complex than bilateral negotiations because there are many more players. But while policies and venues may change, the role of diplomacy—to advance and promote the foreign policy objectives of the United States—is constant and does not change when… Read more
Abstract: The Kremlin is using anti-Americanism as a strategic tool for pursuing domestic and foreign policy goals. Through media controlled or owned by the state, the Russian government is deliberately spreading poisonous anti-U.S. propaganda at home and abroad, blaming many of Russia's problems on the West, particularly the United States.… Read more
Abstract: Russia's revenues from oil and natural gas are enabling its aggressive and often anti-Western foreign policy. Russia's falling economic performance has toned down Russia's rhetoric, but has not drastically changed Russia's foreign policy narrative, which remains decidedly anti- status quo and implicitly anti-American.… Read more
Abstract: President Barack Obama has said that America would reach out to other countries as “an equal partner” rather than as the “exceptional” nation that many before him had embraced; that “any world order that elevates one nation… Read more
Delivered on February 13, 2007 With the Six-Party Talks just concluding in Beijing, it certainly is a good time to discuss North Korea. We are fortunate indeed that, as always, the Institute for Corean-American Studies is focusing Washington's attention on a grave matter that… Read more
Recent strategic decisions by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) on Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts to China suggest that the time has come for Congress to take a serious look at the way the U.S. government manages its international broadcasting services. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her… Read more
Abstract: Since World War II, U.S. international broadcasting has been a major tool for breaking information barriers and blockades constructed by totalitarian and similarly closed authoritarian regimes. Today, the United States continues to open new doors to individual and media freedom, and to advance… Read more
[caption id="attachment_90944" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Ummayed...… Read more
[caption id="attachment_90346" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Demonstrations and funeral in Douma, near...… Read more
January 2012 is the U.S. Department of State’s “21st Century Statecraft Month.” What the State Department has in mind...… Read more
In its never-ending efforts to be hip, the U.S. State Department last week launched a new Web site called “Discover...… Read more
When in November 1942 the British Army broke and routed Rommel, and sent him fleeing through Libya, Winston Churchill...… Read more
It is no secret that when it comes to the use of power, the Obama Administration vastly prefers “soft” power to the...… Read more
News flash: "We are in an information war, and we’re losing that war." This source for this conclusion was not one of...… Read more
There is no such thing as secret diplomacy anymore, maybe not even plain old diplomacy. This week’s mammoth WikiLeaks...… Read more
A recent event at the United States Institute of Peace featured a discussion on the effects of social media,...… Read more
If competition is healthy—most conservatives believe it is—the challenge presented by China and other nations in the...… Read more
Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy
President
Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, and Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies