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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 2, January 02-January 15, 2009

The Future of Public Diplomacy is Still Uncertain

The approach of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James K. Glassman may need to be maintained under the Obama administration, reckons Adam Kuchner for Newsweek. Unlike his predecessor Karen Hugues, Mr. Glassman "scored small successes in the US effort to win over 'hearts and minds' in the Muslim world."

Kuchner claims that Under Secretary Glassman has successfully challenged terrorism and violent extremism, and has creatively used the internet as a means of winning the battle of ideas. Popular among Washington's insiders, and with a good grasp of the changes in public diplomacy today, "Glassman's key realization is that the United States can't always find perfect friends."

Glassman wants to "bring people in contact with America," not to "tell them what to think," reiterates Kuchner. Kuchner concludes that Glassman's public diplomacy philosophy, his flexible "light touch" approach, should continue under the Obama administration.

James Glassman's December speech on "Public Diplomacy 2.0" articulated "an obvious re-imagining of public diplomacy strategy," according to Craig Hayden at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Hayden argues that this new strategy features two principal developments. First, Glassman has created new goals for public diplomacy by emphasizing the "offering [of] alternatives to terrorism," in order to reduce violent extremism. Second, there has been a renewed focus on the methods of public diplomacy, specifically harnessing the "global communication infrastructure" that "connects people to people."

However, Hayden remains skeptical of the potential gains of PD 2.0 network building. Hayden is"less convinced" that PD 2.0"translates readily into improved public opinion - there are simply too many leaps of faith to make in this formulation."

Further, Hayden sees the social and political impacts of PD 2.0 as unquantifiable, or"indeterminate." This conflicts, Hayden believes, with"an enduring US desire for predictable, measurable, and effective investment in public diplomacy."

Hayden's skepticism is challenged by Alan Eisenberg, writing for Inspire Action. Eisenberg contends that"the Government can't afford to stay behind." Eisenberg uses the Apple/PC commercials as a metaphor to suggest that Government should seek to move away from Mr. PC to look more like"the younger, hipper, and more knowledgeable Mr. Apple."

Mark Drapeau, quoted by Eisenberg, sees two main advantages of PD 2.0. First, it will aid in the sharing of information between agencies, with outside partners such as humanitarian NGOs, and with the public. Further, PD 2.0 will allow US public diplomats to"engage people in meaningful ways, understand public sentiment, recruit and retain employees, and harness...collective intelligence."

Meanwhile, Kim Andrew Elliott focuses on the future of public diplomacy broadcasting in an article for the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Elliott discusses the failure of Worldnet, created in 1985, which"tried to be both a news service and a public diplomacy vehicle." Elliott see nothing wrong with a 24-hour channel devoted to public diplomacy, but"it must not attempt to disguise its content as news."

As such, Elliott views US international broadcasting and US public diplomacy as"separate, indeed adversarial, activities," in which public diplomats engage in"spin," while broadcasters focus on"unspinning the spin."

Thus, Elliott advocates for the consolidation of US international broadcasting, but not for the integration of public diplomacy and international broadcasting. In Elliott's view, a combined single broadcasting agency"will not have the independence necessary to achieve the credibility that is required to attract an audience."