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The Layalina Review

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

Refurbishing America's image

American public diplomacy has seen limited successes, reports Julia Bodeeb for Associated Content. Despite Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs James K. Glassman's input and investment into modern technology to broaden US outreach to foreign citizens, US flags have been set ablaze all over the Middle East, with protesters denouncing America as an accomplice to Israel’s Gaza airstrikes.

Bodeeb notes, "While many Americans remain oblivious to the attacks on Gaza…when conflict roils the Middle East it directly impacts America and the safety of our citizens."

In a recent press release from the American University in Cairo posted on the blog Eureka Déjà vu, the head of US public diplomacy blames Bush administration policies for the negative attitudes toward the US in the Muslim world during a dialogue with Egyptian bloggers in the American University in Cairo’s new Virtual Newsroom in Second Life, an online interactive environment.

"There is no doubt the views of the US were influenced by the policies the US adopted...but I do think we can do a better job of explaining our policies," said Glassman to the blogger. He further reiterated that America should improve listening to what foreign citizens have to say.

As the conflict raged in Gaza, America's position and image were further challenged. Asked whether apparent support for Israel’s actions in Gaza hurt America’s relations with the Muslim world, Glassman rejected the idea that the Bush administration "has been lenient" toward the Jewish state, but acknowledged that American interests "tend to align with those of Israel."

Rebooting America's image in the world may require more than internet diplomacy, as reaching out to foreign audiences has been limited so far, reports Sherry Mueller for the Christian Science Monitor. While reports have been written on how to fix US public diplomacy, some myths prevail regarding improving America's image in the world. Mueller argues that the primary aim of public diplomacy is to combat anti-Americanism and engage with citizens of the target regions.

One of the main problems, asserts Mueller, remains the underfunding of numerous successful programs. Mueller believes this leads some to mistakenly think that public diplomacy is yielding insufficient results. She comments, "By increasing funding for these programs and supporting the public-private partnerships that have engaged so many Americans as volunteer citizen diplomats, we will reap tremendous benefits for generations to come."

Martha Bayles, for Newsweek, believes that there is a need to export more serious cultural content, rather than TV series, in order to improve America's image. However, while the US image abroad remains negative, US popular culture remains, in certain contexts, in high demand.

A 2007 report from the 47-nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey found that popular culture may no longer be America's best ambassador. "Majorities in several predominantly Muslim countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt, say they dislike American music, movies and television," according to the report.

Bayles claims that the way to reconcile democracy and civilization is to exercise good taste in ways that are open and communicable to all. "While it is an American characteristic to present cultural and academic material in an entertaining and respectful way, it often invites outsiders to view it as a leveling down."

American cultural ideals have always been to make the finest fruits of civilization available to all, comments Bayles. She concludes that although this ideal is not always a reality, it should still be pursued, "especially now when the country's ideals in general are in need of refurbishing."

Several US public diplomacy chiefs since 9/11 have sought to "rebrand America" through television commercials and slick packaging, according to the Eureka Déjà vu's posting. James K. Glassman posits the opposite, "I don’t think that my job as undersecretary of state is to improve America’s image. I don’t see this as a PR job. I think there has been too much focus on this idea of image burnishing or image building," he said.

He reiterated the pivotal role of communication to disseminate America's message respectfully and of opening dialogue to combat anti-Americanism.