The State Department has issued a new National Strategy on Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy, but it isn't officially available to the public yet. PoliticalWarfare readers, though, can get it here.
The unclassified, 34-page strategy outlines a pretty conventional approach, mainly through the politically correct eyes of Washington-bound FSOs and political appointees. It starts out with an inspiring quote from the president delivered at a White House summit on malaria.
The strategy says some nice things about AIDS and the need to "build networks of women scientists," and other good stuff about minorities. A "Middle East Breast Cancer Initiative" is mentioned on page 23. Real solid stuff that I'm sure our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will appreciate.
Believe it or not, the strategic communication and public diplomacy strategy does address the war. So the document isn't a total loss. Thanks must go to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which has issued reports year after year that slammed the State Department for having no strategy, and recommendations from governmental and private commissions. Kudos also to the State Department's Inspector General, who forced some changes at the public diplomacy shop.
This professor has given the strategy a quick read, and would grade it a gentleman's "C." (In graduate school, anything below a B- is failure, so the strategy isn't really ready for prime time. I'm trying to be charitable.) After I re-read it more carefully, I might change the grade.
Click the link for a PDF copy of the report, which contains no official State Department markings. Download stratcommo_plan_070531.pdf
I invite readers to comment about the report on this blog.
Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes (pictured) says in an internal cover message, "This strategy is designed to provide a unified strategic framework for US government communications, yet be flexible and adaptable to meet the different needs and responsibilities of very diverse government agencies.
"The plan was developed by the inter-agency PCC on strategic communications and is the result of extensive input from different agencies, as well as major recommendations from more than 30 reports on public diplomacy, GAO reports, IG recommendations and consultations with private sector communications professionals.
"The plan is deliberately short so it will be read and used, rather than placed on a shelf. Attachments provide detailed examples of how to put the strategies into action, as called for by GAO and IG reports. We intend for the strategy to provide a comprehensive blueprint that brings all of our resources to bear on repreenting America as a whole, by highlighting the activities and programs all embassies and US Government agencies are undertaking. Toward that objective, we have asked each US government agency and embassy to develop specific action plans, as detailed on page 9, to help us implement the strategy."
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