page_title: American Spaces
section_title: @america
hierarchical_section_title: American Spaces / Cold War America Houses and American Centers / American Centers / @america
caption_attribution_description: Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks about Civil Society, Youth Leadership and Democracy in Southeast Asia at @america cultural enter in Jakarta. Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy Jakarta.
context_page_description: American Spaces is an umbrella program of the Bureau of International Information Programs, a bureau within the United States Department of State, to provide physical locations and applicable media with which to conduct public diplomacy. Created in the early 20th century for "countering disinformation and influencing international public opinion," these spaces, of various types and sizes, often feature unrestricted internet access as well as the rental of American books, periodicals, and DVDs. Following World War II, these spaces proliferated in the form of further libraries, binational centers, standalone American Centers, and America Houses all of which were brought under the "American Spaces" program in 2008. The threat of terrorism directed against these facilities resulted in the transfer of locations into either American Corners within local libraries or Information Resource Centers within US embassies. Each of these spaces exists to spread US soft power abroad.
context_section_description: In December 2010, an American center in Jakarta opened called "@america" to provide a larger, but more secure, space for public diplomacy beyond the embassy compound. Housed on an upper-level of Pacific Place Jakarta mall, the facility is staffed by young bi-cultural and bilingual Indonesians under the direction of the State Department. With the guidance of focus groups of Indonesian youth, the center leverages technology provided through partnerships with Microsoft and Google to inform and entertain the customers, as evidenced by Judith McHale's comments at the opening ceremony. Unlike the rest of the mall, the storefront of @america has been described as "pretty forbidding." Heavy security including baggage checks separate the general public in Indonesia, the world's most-populous Muslim country, from the center. Open from the afternoon into the evening, the space's walls are covered with flat-screen TVs playing numerous programs and the center features free wifi.  It also provides traditional services like student counseling, guest lectures, and other cultural attractions. In the first six months of operation, the public affairs officer reported almost 44,000 visitors. The project also maintains a social media presence including Twitter and Facebook. Cameron R. Hume, the US Ambassador to Indonesia at the time, was on hand for the opening. Dino Patti Djalal described the space as "hip, modern and open – a place where young people want to hang out." The use of communications technology, especially the US provision overseas of connectivity to social media, has been described as reflective of a post-9/11 push to spur audience engagement in foreign lands in pursuit of US public diplomacy objectives. The success of @america is credited with the 2011 revamp of American Spaces with a focus on exhibiting American technology and culture, although @america has been criticized for posting impressive visit numbers without visible public diplomacy achievements.
caption: Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks about Civil Society, Youth Leadership and Democracy in Southeast Asia at @america cultural enter in Jakarta.
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