Jedburgh
04-27-2007, 04:23 PM
Testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, 26 Apr 07:
GAO: Strategic Planning Efforts Have Improved, but Agencies Face Significant Implementation Challenges (http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/for042607.pdf)
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, polling data have generally shown that anti-Americanism has spread and deepened around the world, and several groups have concluded that this trend may have harmed U.S. interests in significant ways. U.S. public diplomacy activities undertaken by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which totaled almost $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2006, are designed to counter such sentiments. Based on our prior reports, this testimony addresses
(1) the negative consequences various groups have associated with rising anti-American sentiments;
(2) strategic planning, coordination, and performance measurement issues affecting U.S. public diplomacy efforts; and
(3) key challenges that hamper agency activities.
Heritage Foundation: Efforts to Deal with America’s Image Abroad: Are They Working? (http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/cur042607.htm)
...To improve U.S. public diplomacy, we should:
· Continue to raise the status of public diplomacy as a key element in fighting Islamic extremism and protecting U.S. national security.
· More clearly link the mission of USAID and the role of development and humanitarian assistance to core national security objectives and ensure close coordination between USAID and State Department on programming for aid projects.
· Consider establishing a semi-governmental entity to con*duct public opinion research in individual countries to allow us to tailor our messages to different audiences and to give U.S. pub*lic diplomacy efforts a solid factual foundation.
· Re-establish the once-popular American libraries in city centers to supplement our efforts to reach people through the internet and electronic media and reinvigorate the book translation program.
· Revitalize U.S. international broadcasting leadership and recommit resources and funding to Voice of America.
GAO: Strategic Planning Efforts Have Improved, but Agencies Face Significant Implementation Challenges (http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/for042607.pdf)
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, polling data have generally shown that anti-Americanism has spread and deepened around the world, and several groups have concluded that this trend may have harmed U.S. interests in significant ways. U.S. public diplomacy activities undertaken by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which totaled almost $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2006, are designed to counter such sentiments. Based on our prior reports, this testimony addresses
(1) the negative consequences various groups have associated with rising anti-American sentiments;
(2) strategic planning, coordination, and performance measurement issues affecting U.S. public diplomacy efforts; and
(3) key challenges that hamper agency activities.
Heritage Foundation: Efforts to Deal with America’s Image Abroad: Are They Working? (http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/cur042607.htm)
...To improve U.S. public diplomacy, we should:
· Continue to raise the status of public diplomacy as a key element in fighting Islamic extremism and protecting U.S. national security.
· More clearly link the mission of USAID and the role of development and humanitarian assistance to core national security objectives and ensure close coordination between USAID and State Department on programming for aid projects.
· Consider establishing a semi-governmental entity to con*duct public opinion research in individual countries to allow us to tailor our messages to different audiences and to give U.S. pub*lic diplomacy efforts a solid factual foundation.
· Re-establish the once-popular American libraries in city centers to supplement our efforts to reach people through the internet and electronic media and reinvigorate the book translation program.
· Revitalize U.S. international broadcasting leadership and recommit resources and funding to Voice of America.