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View Full Version : GAO Report - "Public Diplomacy" in Muslim World



Jedburgh
06-20-2006, 08:17 PM
GAO, May 06: State Department Efforts to Engage Muslim Audiences Lack Certain Communication Elements and Face Significant Challenges (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06535.pdf)

..Our fieldwork revealed that posts’ public diplomacy efforts generally lacked important strategic communication elements found in the private sector, which GAO and others have suggested adopting as a means to better communicate with target audiences. These elements include having core messages, segmented target audiences, detailed strategies and tactics, in-depth research and analysis to monitor and evaluate results, and a communication plan that brings it all together...

...the threat level for terrorism is rated as “critical” or “high” in 80 percent of posts in the Muslim world, and 15 of State’s 20 so-called unaccompanied posts are located in countries in the Muslim world. Security and budgetary concerns have forced embassies to close publicly accessible facilities and curtail certain public outreach efforts, sending foreign publics the unintended message that the United States is unapproachable...

...State’s data show that as many as 30 percent of public diplomacy positions in countries with significant Muslim populations are filled by officers with insufficient language skills...