Funding for Public Diplomacy

Since September 11th, public diplomacy, like every other part of the State Department, has been focused on the war against terrorism. As we woke to the realization that our country’s perception around the world is at best misunderstood, and at worst skewed, we also woke to the reality that we needed to improve and magnify the ways in which we are addressing people of the world - not necessarily other world governments, but people. This is especially true of those disaffected populations in such areas as the Middle East and South Asia, whose poor perception of the U.S. leads to unrest, an unrest that has proven to be a threat to our national and international security.

In late February, Gallup released its poll of almost 10,000 people in 9 predominately Muslim countries, and found that by a margin of 2 to 1, residents of these nations had an unfavorable opinion of the U.S. Some of the specific results of the poll were not surprising in places like Iran, but in Kuwait for instance only 28% percent of those residents polled had a favorable opinion of the U.S. This, in a country that was liberated by the U.S. and our allies only a decade ago. In Morocco the favorable number was only 22%, and in Saudi Arabia, one of our strongest allies in the region, only 18% expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S.

These numbers are consistent with our own internal polling, and paint the picture of the daunting challenge we have before us, a challenge to more effectively communicate our policies and values to the world. This is also our challenge, one of the greatest challenges our country faces today as we fight the war on terrorism, and address the situation in the Middle East. It is imperative that we reach out, inform, educate, and persuade these populations that we are a society and a country that is based on certain shared values, values that resonate with the Muslim world, such as peace, acceptance, tolerance and love of family.

So, how do we do this? Certainly, our traditional public diplomacy activities, such as international exchanges, in-country programs, cultural programs and broadcasting should continue. However, we need to focus these activities while simultaneously augmenting them to more effectively reach out to our desired audiences. Since September 11th, and since my confirmation in October, we have attempted to do just that. This is evident in such initiatives as The Network of Terrorism, a public diplomacy publication that has become the most widely disseminated document ever produced by the State Department. The publication features dramatic visuals, including a map showing the 81 countries that lost citizens in the World Trade Center. Since its release last November, Network has been translated into 36 languages, and we’ve published over 1.3 million copies. We had Network included as the insert of the Arabic edition of Newsweek as well as other Arabic and world publications.

In addition to focused initiatives like the Network of Terrorism publication, we are also augmenting our traditional public diplomacy activities with non-traditional measures. For instance, the $15 million we received from the Emergency Response Fund will be used to fund an aggressive campaign of message placement. The plan is to air short video programs profiling the lives of certain Muslim Americans - a teacher, a basketball player, a fireman -on targeted media outlets in nine predominately Muslim countries. Our message is that the U.S. is an open society, tolerant and accepting of all religions, and specifically a country where Muslims are free to practice Islam.

We want to undertake other measures like Network and our video programming. Already, with the $17.5 million requested in the FY 2002 Emergency Supplemental for public diplomacy, we are planning for initiatives such as:

With an emphasis on focused and augmented activities, we can reach out to these disaffected populations, educating where necessary and changing perceptions where we must. This is public diplomacy at its core at a time when targeted and effective public diplomacy is severely needed. And, this is why I sit before you today.

Our FY 2003 appropriations request to this subcommittee for public diplomacy activities totals $595,711,000, which represents a 5.4% increase over the FY 2002 funding level. Of this amount $247,063,000 is for our Educational and Cultural Exchanges and $287,693,000 is for public diplomacy activities within our Diplomatic and Consular Programs, which are carried out by our network of public diplomatists that perform an integral role in carrying out the nation's foreign policy at every diplomatic mission overseas, in the regional and functional bureau, and in the Office of International Information Programs. These funding levels provide for this critical strategic foreign policy and national security function.

The Department's FY 2003 Public Diplomacy budget is being increased and reprioritized toward new projects to educate the foreign public on the war against terrorism and the U.S. commitment to peace and prosperity across all nations. We plan to continue to strengthen the Public Diplomacy function throughout the Department. In FY 2002, Congress funded an increase of 360 positions for the Department's Diplomatic Readiness Initiative -- 56 of these new positions have been allocated to public diplomacy. The Department's FY 2003 budget request includes an increase of 399 positions to continue the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative. The Department plans to allocate 28 of the FY 2003 policy position increases to support the increased emphasis on public diplomacy.

In addition to refocusing existing resources, the Department requires increased funding for new programs and to strengthen existing programs. Our Diplomatic and Consular Programs request includes a program increase of $5.3 million for expansion of outreach programs to improve our communications and provide effective support for the global public diplomacy campaign. This increased funding will enhance International Information Program activities by strengthening the content and presentation of our website. The increase will permit use of the latest and most reliable technology for efficient delivery of material to target users - critical international leaders and opinion makers. By keeping abreast of the habits of its target users we will be able to organize the presentation of material to match those habits. This will ensure that USG policy; actions and perspective reach the right audiences at the right time, in the right format. If we are to stay competitive in the marketplace of ideas, we must adopt modern state-of-the-art content management methods, to disseminate and re-purpose products on demand.

We will also increase translations of InfoUSA, a combined Internet and CD-ROM information product with full text materials detailing U.S. laws, governance, education, society, and culture. InfoUSA is an example of the use of new technologies to meet the goals of modern public diplomacy. It is updated daily on the Internet, and 30,000 CD-ROMs are distributed semiannually to users worldwide. Recipients range from the executive branch and government ministries in many countries, academic institutions, NGOs and media outlets.

We will increase polling by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in Muslim countries and communities to provide policymakers with information on foreign publics’ attitudes, perceptions, and opinions so public diplomacy messages can be more effectively targeted. This research serves as a tool to help frame policy and public diplomacy to advance national interests. These surveys will include regular polls in Afghanistan and in Muslim-majority countries to track public opinion over time. Custom surveys of Muslim young people in key countries and Muslim communities in largely non-Muslim countries will be fielded to provide insight into the attitudes of these important groups. Other enhancements include increased polling in sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDs, democracy, and the economy; focused polling in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines; research into Western Hemisphere countries, especially Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela and the Caribbean, which has only been event driven over the last decade; regular focus groups and polls in Russia and the former Soviet republics; studies in Europe on missile defense and anti-Americanism; and targeted polling in the Middle East on a variety of issues. Again, these polling results will be used in the strategic planning of our public diplomacy activities and initiatives.

The increase will also expand our Office of Broadcast Services’ coverage of special international events, remote productions, the TV co-operatives program, facilitative assistance efforts, dialogues and Foreign Press Center journalist tours. These activities include working with foreign broadcasters to produce documentary reports that highlight aspects of American life, culture or community. The documentaries are then shown on national foreign television, and have historically received widespread coverage overseas. Foreign journalist tours focus on reporting tours for journalists in strategically important nations - the Middle East, the Balkans, and South Asia - that have few or no U.S.-based correspondents. Both the Office of Broadcast Services and the Foreign Press Center provide broadcast coordination and reporting assistance to foreign correspondents at special Presidential international events, disseminating these important special events abroad.

Now, more than ever, the spotlight is on public diplomacy, on our ability and aptitude at communicating to the people of the world. I thank the subcommittee for its continued support of public diplomacy, and for allowing me to testify before you today. I am happy to answer any of your questions.