Archive Site for State Department information prior to January 20, 2001.

This site is not updated.

RETURN to the current State Department web site.

A NEW DIPLOMACY FOR

THE INFORMATION AGE

United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

November 1996

TO THE PRESIDENT, CONGRESS, AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

I. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW DIPLOMACY

A. Executive Branch

1. White House

2. Department of State

3. U. S. Information Agency

4. U.S. Agency for International Development

5. Defense Department

B. Congress

C. Non-Governmental Organizations

II. FOUNDATIONS OF A NEW DIPLOMACY

A. Information Revolution

B. People and Power

C. Globalized Issues

D. Non-governmental Organizations

III. EXECUTION OF A NEW DIPLOMACY

A. Global Digital Network

B. USIA's Advisory Role

C. U.S. International Broadcasting

D. Exchanges

E. Overseas Presence

IV. CONCLUSION

A NEW DIPLOMACY FOR

THE INFORMATION AGE

United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

November 1996

The information revolution and the growing power of foreign publics are the foundations

of a New Diplomacy.

November 1996

To the President, Congress, and the American People:

The Information Age is increasing the power of information and revolutionizing how America

communicates with the world.

Simultaneously, because of the growth of democratization and free markets, foreign publics have

become far more powerful.

This is good news for America. We have an immense edge in a world where people and information

matter more. We have unmatched communications skills and information technologies, and we have

incomparable experience with democracy and free markets.

To ignore this edge would be to waste an incredible opportunity. To exploit this edge requires a

1 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
complete rethinking of U.S. foreign affairs agencies.

Moreover, a New Diplomacy rooted in the Information Age is a necessity if we are to rekindle the

American public's interest in foreign policy.

The Commission strongly recommends that the Administration and Congress rethink current

arrangements and develop a New Diplomacy for the Information Age and the worldwide increase in the

power of foreign publics. Our recommendations are designed to aid such rethinking.

Lewis Manilow

Chairman

Illinois

William J. Hybl

Vice Chairman

Colorado

Walter R. Roberts

Washington, DC

Pamela J. Turner

Virginia

Harold C. Pachios

Maine

Maria Elena Torano

Florida

Charles H. Dolan, Jr.

Virginia

United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

A Presidential Commission created by Congress to provide bipartisan oversight of U.S.

government activities intended to understand, inform and influence foreign publics. The

Commission reports to the President, Congress, the Secretary of State, the USIA

Director, and the American people.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW DIPLOMACY

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

WHITE HOUSE

Make clear through Presidential directives and appointments that information is as important as

political, economic, and military power -- and that understanding, informing, and influencing

foreign publics is a high national priority.

Recognize that governments now change more frequently and that America's diplomacy must

be supported by foreign publics as well as foreign governments.

Designate the U.S. Information Agency a regular participant in National Security Council and

other policy planning meetings so that advice on foreign publics and communication strategies

can be built into policy decisions.

Require that all U.S. embassies and foreign affairs agencies have access to the Internet and

related technologies.

In the selection of ambassadors, make skill in communicating with foreign publics a highly

significant factor.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Transform the State Department's thinking and priorities so that it can deal as effectively with

foreign publics as with foreign governments.

In the recruitment of new officers and in their subsequent training, put much greater emphasis

on the necessity to communicate with foreign publics and the skills to do so.

U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY

Build a global, high-speed interactive digital network for multilingual voice, video, print, and data

communication worldwide. This network should be separate from and complementary to the

Department of State's telecommunications service (DTS-PO) whose highest priority is secure

communications.

Increase polling and research studies to better understand foreign attitudes for effective

decision-making and communication.

2 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
Funding for such a global digital network and increased foreign opinion research should come

from a reduction of international broadcasting and consolidation of exchanges.

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AID is becoming less a source of funds for large capital projects and more a facilitator of

programs that promote economic growth, advance democracy, deliver humanitarian assistance,

protect the environment, and create digital technology infrastructures. A New Diplomacy will

clarify and build on these missions.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

The Defense Department recognizes that understanding, informing, and influencing foreign

publics reduces tensions and saves lives. Current ad hoc inter-agency coordinating

mechanisms between the Department of Defense, USIA, and other foreign affairs agencies

should be institutionalized.

CONGRESS

House and Senate appropriations subcommittee structures force foreign affairs to compete for

funds with prisons, the FBI, the National Weather Service, and other domestic programs. 

Congress should install "firewalls" so that foreign affairs does not compete with domestic

spending.

The budgeting process should assure adequate funding for information age technology and

programs intended to influence foreign publics.

USIA should be invited to provide periodic briefings and research reports on foreign public

opinion.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

NGOs are an enormous asset to countries in transition to democracy and free markets. A New

Diplomacy should define appropriate relations between government and NGOs and identify

clearly the strengths of each.

FOUNDATIONS OF A NEW DIPLOMACY

 The information revolution and the growing power of foreign publics are the foundations of a New

Diplomacy. Together with the globalization of issues and the rapidly expanding reach of NGOs, they

are fundamentally changing how the U.S. pursues its interests abroad.

 In the following sections, the Commission addresses America's advantages in this new world and

how these forces are transforming traditional diplomacy. The Commission then cites five broad areas

where change is needed in USIA, the government agency principally engaged in public diplomacy.

INFORMATION REVOLUTION

 Information technologies are fundamentally transforming the way we live, work, govern, and

communicate.

 In country after country, governments, corporations, educators, military leaders, and a growing

number of citizens' groups are defining their future with the knowledge that ideas, products, and

activities can be delivered in digital form.

 America has an unmatched capacity to create and integrate complex information systems. This is

our edge. It is extraordinarily attractive to other countries. Helping them develop their own information

societies can have positive consequences in our relations.

 These technologies hold enormous promise for America's leadership. Yet, U.S. foreign affairs

agencies have barely scratched the surface in capitalizing on their potential.

 The United States should move quickly to build open, reliable networks for communication within

and between Washington agencies and U.S. missions abroad, and with NGOs and populations

worldwide.

 Information technologies will never replace human contact. Indeed, their value in furthering U.S.

interests abroad will make diplomats on the ground even more essential in connecting useful

3 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
information with influential users.

 Traditional communications will remain necessary in much of the world. But digital technologies

increasingly will become universal and taken for granted. They will enhance and replace many

traditional programs. They are the inevitable and cost-effective tools of a New Diplomacy.

PEOPLE AND POWER

 The United States has enormous capacity to achieve favorable outcomes through what Joseph

Nye has called "soft power," or the "ability to set the agenda in ways that shape the preferences of

others."*

 Soft power strengthens American diplomacy through attraction rather than coercion. Our

interests are enhanced to the extent people speak English and are familiar with or use our legal and

financial systems. Democracy and free markets can lead to better trading partners and governments

less inclined to war and terrorism.

 People are changing their governments and influencing what governments can do more than any

time in history. The number of societies in democratic transition is unprecedented. Recent

democratic elections in Russia, Taiwan, the Palestinian West Bank and elsewhere have profound

consequences for diplomacy. Even in one-party states, regimes cannot act entirely or for long without

regard for public opinion.

 America still needs diplomacy between governments, but policies and negotiated agreements will

succeed only if they have the support of publics at home and abroad.

* Joseph S. Nye, Jr. and William A. Owens, "America's Information Edge," Foreign Affairs, March/April,

1996.

GLOBALIZED ISSUES

 The globalization of issues -- trade, financial markets, immigration, drug trafficking, weapons of

mass destruction, the environment, intellectual property, disease, terrorism -- is blurring the separation

of foreign affairs and domestic politics.

 The State Department now accounts for less than half the staffing at most U.S. embassies. In

Mexico, for example, U.S. interests are shaped by 32 government agencies including the Departments

of Justice, Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce and Defense, the Immigration and Naturalization Service,

the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

 Add financial investments, American popular culture, family ties, a host of NGOs, California and

Texas, San Diego and San Antonio, and it is clear that relations between the United States and Mexico

are far more complex than what happens between the State Department and the Mexican foreign

ministry.

 This globalization of issues and actors means America must practice a new kind of diplomacy. It

will require state-of-the-art information systems. It will demand new ways of helping non-foreign

service officers understand foreign publics, history, and cultures. It will call for ambassadors to

manage missions where U.S. interests are served by diverse organizations with ambitious agendas.

"As we move from the industrial to the information age, from the Cold War world to the

global village, we have an extraordinary opportunity to advance our values at home and

around the world." -- President Clinton

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

 NGOs are powerful players in an international scene transformed by the increased power of

ordinary citizens. They are independent of the U.S. government. They reflect the quintessentially

American tradition of volunteerism -- and a civil society in which Americans organize themselves to

solve problems rather than leaving them to government.

 NGOs are an enormous asset in assisting countries making the transition to democracy and free

markets. In many ways they can do things better than government. They foster a flexible style that

encourages innovation. Many are exploiting digital technologies in their daily work. They offer the

world a winning combination of America's greatest strengths: professional skills, a wealth of

4 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
experience, fresh perspectives, and enormous good will.

 The proliferation of NGOs presents new opportunities for America's diplomats. The activities of

NGOs should be seen as different from, but complementary to, those of the U.S. government. Building

civil societies is important and difficult work with room for all comers. Through cooperation with NGOs,

U.S. officials will learn more about the societies in which they work, accomplish more in an era of

limited resources, and send a message to societies in transition that the American people -- not just

their government -- care deeply about their success.

 Defining appropriate relations between government and NGOs, identifying clearly the strengths of

each, and helping NGOs do what they do best will be critical tasks for a New Diplomacy.

NGOs are an enormous asset in assisting countries making the transition to democracy

and free markets.

EXECUTION OF A NEW DIPLOMACY

 Recommendations for a New Diplomacy regarding the foreign affairs agencies of the U.S.

government are included in the opening summary. Inasmuch as the United States Information Agency

is the principal U.S. agency engaged in understanding, informing, and influencing foreign publics, more

detailed recommendations are warranted.

 The information revolution and the power of publics make USIA's work more essential. At the

same time, these forces require fundamental changes in USIA's priorities and programs. For example:

Direct radio broadcasting and news gathering (USIA will need far less);

Traditional libraries (many will be replaced by on-line reference services and electronic libraries);

Exchanges (will be enhanced by distance learning);

The Washington File (is being transmitted via the Internet);

Publications (are giving way to Internet publishing);

Speakers (are being augmented and replaced by digital video conferencing).

 The Commission sets forth below needed changes in information technologies and USIA's central

operating elements: opinion research, overseas missions, exchanges, and international broadcasting.

 We recommend increases for a global digital network (an estimated $10 million in capital

investment for 150 sites and $6 million in annual operating funds) and for opinion research ($5 million

annually). Offsets for these increases should be more than covered by savings from international

broadcasting, exchange consolidation, and reduced communications costs.

 During the past four years USIA has reduced staff more than 25 percent and overall funding by 28

percent in real terms. The Agency has eliminated core programs, closed overseas posts, and cut

personnel at headquarters and in the field. The Commission believes continuation of these reductions

would exceed levels that are wise and that national needs require in the Information Age.

GLOBAL DIGITAL NETWORK

 Interactive digital technologies have significant cost-saving implications for many administrative

and program activities. The U.S.government does not have the state-of-the-art digital network it needs

for open communication with U.S. missions, and with local populations and NGOs around the

world.The Department of State's Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office (DTS-PO),

which is responsible for creating such a network, has not developed a system that meets USIA's

needs. DTS-PO's first priority is to build a network for closed communication within 46 U.S.

government agencies. For example, it does not permit digital video conferencing or provide sufficient

access to the World Wide Web.

 Congress and OMB should authorize USIA to develop, in partnership with the private sector, a

global, high-speed interactive digital network with adequate bandwidth for multilingual voice, video,

print, and data communication. The network will enable USIA, the State Department, and other

agencies to use the low cost, readily available technologies that are revolutionizing global

communications.

 Opinion leaders and decision makers increasingly are users of the Internet, the World Wide Web,

5 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
electronic libraries, personal computers, digital video, and other new information technologies. Many

are young, educated, and affluent -- future leaders with whom it is in America's interest to have a

dialogue.

USIA'S ADVISORY AND RESEARCH ROLE

 A New Diplomacy requires strengthening the USIA Director's role as advisor to the President,

Secretary of State, and National Security Council on the impact of U.S. policies on public opinion

abroad. Knowing what foreign publics think is crucial to effective policies and communications

strategies.

 USIA should be a regular participant in NSC and other policy planning meetings. The Agency

should develop the institutional support needed to enhance its advisory role -- to put opinion research

and the views of professionals who understand foreign publics at the service of the wider government

and NGO community that now shapes U.S. interests abroad.

 There is a fundamental imbalance in USIA's priorities. USIA spends nearly $1 billion annually on

radio broadcasting, exchanges, and a variety of press and public affairs activities intended to "inform

and influence" foreign publics. USIA spends only $5 million -- of which a mere $1.9 million is for

polling -- on opinion surveys, research studies and other tools essential to "understanding" foreign

attitudes and cultures.

 Funding for foreign opinion research should be increased to $10 million. USIA should increase

dissemination of research studies to U.S. agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and universities. It should

initiate the commercial sale of polling results to private sector clients, and it should seek to increase

co-funding arrangements for polls useful to other U.S. agencies.

Reading the mood on the streets of Moscow, New Delhi, Havana, or Sarajevo is crucial

to responsible policy judgments.

U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING

 Although audiences for U.S. government radio broadcasts are falling, USIA still spends $101

million annually on the Voice of America, $94 million on surrogate radios (Radio Free Europe/Radio

Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Marti), and $116 million on signal delivery costs.

 U.S.-financed radio broadcasts should be decreased. The savings should come from the 57

language services and not from English broadcasts, which should be accorded higher priority. More

people than ever before understand English, and the Commission welcomes VOA's new 24-hour

English language network.

 Savings should come also from privatization of RFE/RL's surrogate services not later than

December 31, 1999 as called for by Congress in the United States International Broadcasting Act.

 Television is by far the world's most influential broadcast medium. Interactive dialogues (USIA's

one-way video, two-way audio telepress conferences) are valuable, especially when senior U.S.

officials are interviewed on high profile issues.

 In contrast, production costs for U.S. government broadcast television programs are high and

placement is difficult. Given its importance as a communications medium, however, USIA should give

higher priority to planning, research, and experiments with broadcast television such as VOA TV.

 The Internet, digital video conferences, and other on-line services have great potential, and USIA

should be the preeminent provider. Anticipated worldwide growth in the use of these technologies will

justify a shift in the proportion of funds to interactive digital communications as compared with radio

broadcasting.

The Defense Department recognizes that understanding, informing, and influencing

foreign publics reduces tensions and saves lives.

EXCHANGES

 Exchanges are in the national interest. They are the best way for Americans to learn about

others, and for others to learn about us. The enthusiastic and growing involvement of NGOs in

exchanges offers striking evidence of the growing power of people-to-people contacts in all

6 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
fields. Exchanges help societies grasp democracy, free markets, and rule of law. They help build civil

societies. Many U.S. ambassadors have called them the single most valuable asset in American

foreign relations.

 USIA manages 68 exchange programs including the Fulbright and International Visitor

programs. To increase efficiencies through reduced layering and fragmentation, the Agency should

merge these programs into two core elements: academic exchanges and professional/cultural

exchanges.

 U.S. government exchanges, many of which are Congressionally earmarked, have greatly

proliferated. At least 39 U.S. agencies spend $1.6 billion annually on international exchanges. AID

accounts for 38 percent of all government exchanges compared with USIA, which accounts for only 13

percent. Other agencies run the gamut from the Departments of Energy and Health and Human

Services to the Census Bureau and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 It will take a government-wide effort to make the hard choices needed to set priorities, consolidate

programs, and increase oversight and evaluation. The Administration and Congress should examine

all exchanges and establish principles applicable to all agencies. Such principles should include:

All U.S. agencies with international exchange programs should continue to report annually to

USIA, which will maintain a current inventory of U.S. government exchanges and report to the

Administration and Congress.

USIA's reports should recommend where exchanges that share objectives and target similar

participants should be consolidated, identify approaches to increased administrative efficiencies,

and suggest strategies for leveraging private funds for federal programs.

At least 39 U.S. agencies spend $1.6 billion annually on international exchanges. 

USIA's share is only 13 percent.

OVERSEAS PRESENCE

 Between 1990 and 1996, USIA closed 28 posts overseas, but opened 26 new posts, most in the

former Soviet Union. Yet during the same period, the Agency cut overseas staffing by 19 percent.

 The United States must have the capacity to communicate quickly and effectively anywhere in the

world. Rapid change propels small countries and large to center stage in ways that fit no clear pattern.

 Yesterday, Somalia and Haiti. Tomorrow, possibly Turkey or China.

 USIA should develop a "surge capacity" that will allow it to redirect resources ahead of normal

planning cycles as crises and priorities warrant. This means greater freedom from budget earmarks

and fewer programs that, while politically popular, are no longer cost-effective. It means giving USIA

authority to shift up to 25 percent of its funds within a fiscal year. It means willingness to work with "just

in time" public affairs assets including contracts with NGOs and private companies where appropriate.

 The tools of the New Diplomacy make it easier to expand or contract. Tomorrow's USIA officer

may well be part of a multi-agency rapid deployment team as in Bosnia or Haiti. Coordinating with

other departments will be important. Self-sufficiency, mobility, and flexibility will be at a premium.

 A New Diplomacy cannot be left to the commercial media. Private media focus on immediate,

often sensational headlines, on popular culture, and ultimately on whatever is profitable. CNN will

never make the persuasive case, in context, for U.S. interests: for selling American agricultural

products in Japan, for protecting intellectual property rights in China, or for extraditing terrorists in the

Middle East. Nor should it.

 These are tasks for the executive branch and Congress that will capitalize on America's

unmatched skills and advantages.

U.S. interests in Mexico are shaped by 32 government agencies.

CONCLUSION

 The information revolution and the power of foreign publics offer America's diplomacy a unique

edge. We must embrace these sweeping changes if we are to advance our interests in the 21st

century.

7 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM
 A New Diplomacy will build on America's success as a multicultural civil society and the appeal of

our values and ideals. America will need diplomats with new skills and new tools. In a world of more

powerful publics, engaging the right audience at the right moment can resolve conflicts that might lead

to war, create markets for profitable trade, and deal with the problems of terrorism, drugs, immigration,

and the environment. More and more that "right audience" may not be in the foreign ministry.

 Traditional diplomacy remains crucial as does military strength, adequate intelligence, and

economic power. These are what create a Bosnia peace accord or an Israeli-Palestinian Declaration

of Principles. But only public support for these agreements will sustain them. This is not just public

relations. It is a political, economic, and often a military necessity.

 A New Diplomacy will require substantive rethinking and thoughtful bipartisan discussion. No

single agency can do the job. It is a task for the executive branch and Congress and for the American

people.

United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

Suite 600, 301 4th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20547

(202) 619-4457 Fax (202) 619-5489

Bruce Gregory, Staff Director

Mary Thompson-Jones, Deputy Staff Director

Betty Hayes, Administrative Officer

Deanna deMember, Staff Assistant

Please send comments to: webmaster@advcomm.gov

Advisory Commission:

Home Page

Annual Reports

Department of State:

Home Page

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs

8 of 8 08/19/15 7:27 AM