Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, James K. Glassman, argues that the most efficient way to undermine the discourse of extremists is to support moderate Muslims, reports the Asian Tribune. Glassman reiterated his view that public diplomacy “is not about us, and in order to win the war of ideas the US just needs to undermine the message of extremists.”

Although he admits, “Making people like us better is a perfectly decent US goal,” he also remarks that US public diplomacy should thrive to undercut violent extremists by having governments and civil society engage their fellow citizens with a more powerful narrative. Glassman indicates that extremism can be defeated simply by “supporting people who share US interests and by providing them with the means to accomplish their goals.”

US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke believes that a more aggressive approach is necessary to deal with extremists, according to Radio Free Europe. Speaking on September 18 at an RFE/RL event in Washington, DC's Newseum, Holbrooke marked the launch of a new initiative to broadcast six daily hours of programming to Pashto speakers along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

At the event, he stated, "We need to go beyond traditional diplomacy." He insisted that the best way to counter Taliban propaganda is through the use of Western media broadcast, and that precisely Radio Free Europe aimed to fill this void in the region.

RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin noted, “Our additional programming will feature a wide range of news, politics, and culture that will reach deep into the Pashtun heartland via radio, SMS text messaging, video, and the Internet."

The US Congress recently appropriated $10.9 million to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees RFE/RL operations, to enhance and expand broadcasts to the Pashtun populations of Pakistan's border regions, reports Television Washington. The article states that in a volatile area where little independent news and information is available, this new initiative will feature a wide range of news, politics, and cultural programs specifically geared to Pashto speakers on both sides of the border.

The Taliban is adapting to the media era and the political and religious group has developed increasingly sophisticated strategies to win hearts and minds in the Afghani region. In August, the New York Times quoted Holbrooke as saying that the Taliban have unrestricted, and unchallenged access to the radio, which is still the primary means of communication in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, and therefore a vital method of communication between the United States and people of that region, notes the news site.

“This is obviously where RFE and RL come in. We need to explain in open American supported radio stations and other media…why we are [in Afghanistan and Pakistan], [that we are] as friends and not as invaders or occupiers,” concluded Holbrooke.