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Neocon Nuttery See other Neocon Nuttery Articles Title: U.S. out to buff its global image (Karen Hughes sighting) U.S. out to buff its global image Grass-roots diplomatic initiative tackles ill will abroad, but skeptics say much more is needed By Bay Fang Washington Bureau Published July 2, 2007 ELISTA, Russia -- It is a blazing hot day in the desert in the tiny Russian republic of Kalmykia, and a cluster of schoolchildren in red baseball caps and T-shirts huddles in the courtyard of Secondary School No. 3, waving little American flags. Not many American flags are being waved in Russia, but this is a two-week English-language summer camp sponsored by the U.S. government, and on this particular day a special visitor is coming. Down the lane roars a huge, Shrek-green bus, and out steps Michelle Kwan, the Olympic figure skater who is being billed as the first American public diplomacy envoy. E-mail this story Printable format Search archives RSS At a moment of deepening mistrust of the United States around the world, Kwan is part of a public diplomacy effort that seems more crucial than ever. Her five-day trip to Russia wrapped up a little over a week before President Vladimir Putin flew in the opposite direction, arriving Sunday at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, to meet with President Bush amid a notable chill in U.S.-Russian relations. The Bush administration recently unveiled its national strategy for public diplomacy, with a stated mission to "underscore our commitment to freedom, human rights and the dignity and equality of every human being; reach out to those who share our ideals; support those who struggle for freedom and democracy; and counter those who espouse ideologies of hate and oppression." Kwan's role is to engender goodwill by appearing in far-flung areas, and she suggested that every bit of goodwill helps. "Everything is positive in public diplomacy," Kwan said. "It is better for a relationship to exist than not to exist." But some are skeptical of Bush's diplomacy effort, with its $796 million annual budget, asking if it exhibits the necessary urgency and scope. More broadly, they ask how successful such a campaign can be in the face of the Iraq war, the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, America's perceived pro-Israel tilt and other policies that have sparked hostility in many corners of the world, especially among Muslim populations. "When you have the depth of discontent with the U.S. and its values that you have in this era, it will be a real challenge to move the needle with better rhetoric, better pictures, things like that," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project. "The best they can do is to control the damage. In order to change things, they would have to change their policies, not just do a better job of explaining them." Anti-Americanism continues to deepen around the world by many measures. A recent global survey conducted by Pew concluded that "the U.S. image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia, and continues to decline among many of America's oldest allies. ... In much of the world there is broad and deepening dislike of American values and a global backlash against the spread of American ideas and customs." Even in Turkey, one of America's closest allies in the Muslim world, only 9 percent of the public had favorable views of the U.S., down from 52 percent in 2000. In Indonesia, 29 percent of the public viewed the U.S. favorably, down from 75 percent in 2000. Karen Hughes, a confidant of Bush's who has been undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs since mid-2005, has succeeded in raising the profile of public diplomacy. As the 6-foot Texan bounded around her Washington office recently, talking non-stop, she did not skip a beat when confronted with the new poll numbers. "I knew when I accepted this job that the likelihood I could do anything in two or three years to change opinion polls about America was basically zero," Hughes said. "I say my job is to reach out to the world in the spirit of respect and friendship. Many people around the world are mad at us about Iraq. But there are always going to be political differences. People like Michelle are able to transcend those differences, and through things like cultural exchanges ... we build mutual understanding." Kwan's personal touch Back in Elista, behind a sign proclaiming 200 years of U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations, Kwan takes the stage and tells the children an inspirational story about learning to skate, encouraging them to learn more about the world and to reach for their goals. "The world is getting smaller," she said. "The people in Kalmykia can reach out to anyone at any time. ... Reach high for what you want in life. Nothing is impossible." Afterward, the children put on a variety show in her honor, one group yelling out the names of favorite American heroes: "Abraham Lincoln!" "Thomas Edison!" "Michelle Kwan!" Before getting back on the bus, she poses for pictures and signs dozens of T-shirts and baseball caps, avoiding any talk of politics. "In this capacity, my political opinions don't really matter," she said later. "It's not like I'm signing anything official -- I'm signing a picture." That is part of what is wrong with Hughes' strategy, say its critics: It merely skims the surface of what needs to be done in engaging the world, while avoiding the substance of unpopular policies. "Their approach is to plant seeds of ideas that will eventually bloom," said one senior diplomat who has been involved in public diplomacy in the Middle East and spoke on condition of anonymity. "But in recent years Saudi organizations have pumped in billions of dollars and filled 747s with extremist texts to send into moderate Muslim countries. There is an ideological war going on, and it requires more aggressiveness." Others applauded the initiative as at least a modest move in the right direction. "It's a small step, but an important one," said Mark Helmke, a senior adviser to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who was briefed last week by Hughes' deputies on the new strategy. "It is hard to get the State Department around the idea that it needs to talk to publics, not just diplomats. The Pentagon has more people engaged in public diplomacy than the State Department does. There are reservists coming back from Iraq, saying our guys are getting killed because we aren't responding to what the terrorists are saying. It's not just about why they hate us anymore. It's so that they don't kill us." Please register or log in Subscribers: Get the Advantage Search: chicagotribune chicagotribune Google http://chicagotribune.com >> Nation/World U.S. out to buff its global image Grass-roots diplomatic initiative tackles ill will abroad, but skeptics say much more is needed By Bay Fang Washington Bureau Published July 2, 2007 << previous Public diplomacy has always been known as the "soft power" complement to military might. During the Cold War, the importance of reaching out to the people living under Soviet rule was widely recognized. At the height of the U.S. Information Agency's stature, in 1989, its budget reached $882 million, the equivalent of $1.4 billion today and nearly a quarter of the State Department's budget at the time. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, funding and personnel for the USIA were cut repeatedly, until in 1999 the agency was abolished and its functions absorbed by the State Department. E-mail this story Printable format Search archives RSS A 2003 report by the Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, mandated by Congress after the Iraq war began, found that America's public diplomacy lacked even the effectiveness of a basic corporate public-relations campaign. Edward Djerejian, who headed the advisory group and is now director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, praised Hughes for rebuilding the machinery of public diplomacy. "Organizationally, I give her high marks," he said. "The questions that people are debating are our basic policies -- the war in Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the situation in Lebanon, Iran." Hughes has expanded exchange programs, rallied interagency cooperation and built a Rapid Response Unit, which monitors worldwide media, including Arabic-language blogs. The unit then issues daily bullet points, including quotes from Bush and other senior leaders, providing a pithy message that can be repeated by underlings. "When I first came here, at the senior staff meeting, public diplomacy didn't get mentioned very often," Hughes said. "It's important that our president, the secretary of the treasury, education, understands that some policy pronouncement they've made is not going down so well in the European media, or is being portrayed this way in the Arab world." But some say this level of message-trading does not go deep enough. "In the new strategy, nowhere does it talk about listening," said Nicholas Cull, a professor at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy. "The rapid response is just about finding out what they are saying so the State Department can rebut it. America needs a deeper engagement, more of a conversation." 'Willful ignorance'? James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a non-profit advocacy group, said the Hughes strategy reflects a "willful ignorance about the Middle East." A poll his institute commissioned reported that viewership of Al-Hurra, the U.S. government-sponsored Arabic channel, was lower than the margin of error, or less than 1 percent in most countries. The exchange programs are little better, he added. "The people they bring over on their programs are already Western-educated and will tell them what they want to hear," Zogby said. He added that when Hughes first started her job, they met for lunch and he mentioned some ideas for approaching the Arab-Muslim world. "It was great," he said. "But that was the last time I saw or heard from her." There is also the problem of funding. In 2006 the State Department received $796 million for public diplomacy, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors received $645 million. This year Hughes has asked Congress for $845 million; the Pentagon's base budget is $481.4 billion. "The amount of money we put toward public diplomacy is ridiculously low, compared to what other countries put in proportionately," said Walter Roberts, a former associate director of the U.S. Information Agency. "Some countries spend a third of their foreign policy budgets on public diplomacy. It makes a difference."
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