The overall goal of U.S. public diplomacy efforts is to understand, inform, engage, and influence the attitudes and behavior of global audiences in ways that support the United States’ strategic interests. U.S. public diplomacy efforts are implemented by several entities, including State, DOD, USAID, and BBG, and function under the broad guidance of the White House and the National Security Council. Funding is concentrated in State and BBG, which together received approximately $1.2 billion for public diplomacy in fiscal year 2005. USAID and DOD have relatively small public diplomacy budgets. State’s public diplomacy operations are guided by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, who oversees the Bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Information Programs, and Public Affairs. The department’s regional and functional bureaus also contain public diplomacy offices, which report to the relevant assistant secretary. The Under Secretary has direct authority over the three public diplomacy bureaus but does not have line authority over public diplomacy operations in other regional or functional bureaus. In overseas missions, Foreign Service public diplomacy officers (including Public Affairs, Cultural Affairs, Information, Information Resources, and Regional English Language officers) operate under the authority of the chief of mission and report to their regional bureau managers in Washington, D.C. In fiscal year 2005, State dedicated $597 million to pubic diplomacy and public affairs. According to the department’s performance plan, its investment in public diplomacy and public affairs continues to increase, particularly for efforts targeting audiences in the Middle East. Exchange programs received the majority of fiscal year 2005 funding, $356 million, which was a 12.4 percent increase over fiscal year 2004. These programs include international visitors, citizen exchanges, the Fulbright academic exchange program, and English-language teaching. State’s information programs received roughly $68 million in fiscal year 2005 to fund programs such as the U.S. speakers program, mission Web sites, and American Corners, which are centers that provide information about the United States, hosted in local institutions and staffed by local employees. The remaining public diplomacy funds go to State’s regional bureaus to pay for the salaries of locally engaged staff overseas, among other purposes. Appendix III provides a summary of selected programs managed by each bureau along with a description of staff positions. USAID, DOD, and BBG also support the U.S. government’s communication efforts in the field. USAID reports that it has established an overseas network of more than one hundred Development Outreach and Communications officers, who work with Public Affairs officers to promote America’s assistance story. DOD has also become involved in public diplomacy and is developing a strategy for “military support for public diplomacy” to identify ways it can effectively support State’s operations. For example, DOD Military Information Support Teams have been dispatched to selected posts, at the request of the Ambassador, to assist with outreach efforts. Finally, U.S. international broadcasting, led by the BBG, is a major contributor to the United States’ efforts to communicate directly with foreign audiences. Between fiscal years 2004 and 2006, the BBG expects to spend nearly $240 million on its Middle East Broadcasting Network, which includes Alhurra satellite television network and the Arabic-language Radio Sawa. According to State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Muslim world is composed of 58 countries and territories with significant Muslim populations, many of which are members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. These countries have a combined population of more than 1.5 billion and are located in Africa, Asia, and Europe (see app. II). Figure 1 shows their locations. State’s public diplomacy investment in these 58 countries and territories has increased in recent years. According to department data, State provided funds for 179 speakers to travel to these countries in fiscal year 2005, up from 157 in fiscal year 2004. Additionally, the department funded nearly 5,800 exchange participants from these countries in fiscal year 2005, up from about 5,100 in fiscal year 2004. The department spent nearly $115 million on exchange and information programs in these countries in fiscal year 2005. State devotes significant public diplomacy program and staffing resources to regions with large Muslim populations. Beginning in 2002, State introduced three key initiatives focused on reaching younger and broader Muslim audiences to supplement the standard exchange and information programs used by most embassies; these initiatives have been largely terminated or suspended. Nevertheless, posts in the Muslim world continue to generally employ the same exchange, cultural, and information programs used throughout the world. In fiscal year 2006, the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs introduced several new initiatives designed to help officers in the field improve their advocacy of U.S. foreign policy and enhance their ability to quickly respond to breaking news stories, while other initiatives, some of which are specific to Muslim audiences, are still in development. In our 2003 report on public diplomacy, we reported that the department had increased its overall spending on public diplomacy since the terrorist attacks of September 11, with the largest relative increases going to regions with large Muslim populations. Specifically, we noted that while State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs received the largest overall share of overseas public diplomacy resources, the largest percentage increases in such resources occurred in regions with significant Muslim populations. As table 1 shows, this pattern has continued over the past 3 years, with total spending on overseas public diplomacy increasing 21 percent between fiscal years 2004 and 2006. The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs continues to receive the largest overall share of overseas public diplomacy resources, with the largest percentage increases in resources going to regions with countries with large Muslim populations including South Asia (39 percent), East Asia and Pacific (28 percent), and the Near East (25 percent). Table 1 provides data on public diplomacy funding and staffing for each of State’s regional bureaus. The table also shows the number of countries with significant Muslim populations in each region, according to State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, along with the population of these countries. In our 2003 report, we noted that authorized officer positions overseas had significantly expanded, with the most notable increases occurring in State’s Near East (27 percent increase) and South Asia (15 percent increase) bureaus. However, current data show that staff numbers have stayed largely the same over the past 3 years with increases of 3 percent or less. In January 2006, Secretary Rice announced plans to reposition officers as part of her transformational diplomacy initiative. State officials said that the department will initially reposition approximately 75 Foreign Service officers this year from posts in Europe and Washington, D.C., to India, China, and Latin America, as well as to the Muslim world. According to these officials, over one-third of the positions that will be relocated are public diplomacy positions. State has developed three programs specifically designed to reach Muslim audiences: the Shared Values media campaign, the Arabic-language Hi magazine, and the youth-oriented Partnerships for Learning exchange strategy. These initiatives have been largely suspended or terminated, but State continues to focus many of its exchange programs on younger audiences. In 2002, State launched the Shared Values Initiative to highlight the common values and beliefs shared by Muslims and Americans, demonstrate that America is not at war with Islam, and stimulate dialogue between the United States and the Muslim world. The initiative, which cost about $15 million, centered on a paid television campaign, which was developed by a private sector advertising firm and attempted to illustrate the daily lives of Muslim Americans. This multimedia campaign also included a booklet on Muslim life in America, speaker tours, an interactive Web site to promote dialogue between Muslims in the United States and abroad, and other information programs. The initial phase of the Shared Values Initiative was aired in six languages in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kuwait, as well as on pan-Arab media. State estimates that 288 million people were exposed to these messages, but television stations in several countries, including Egypt and Lebanon, refused to air the programs for political and other reasons. In 2003, the report by the Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, commonly referred to as the Djerejian report, credited the campaign for having a solid research basis but criticized it for taking far longer to develop than similar private sector advertising campaigns. The report also noted that some embassies were reluctant to promote the ads. A department analysis of foreign reaction to the Shared Values Initiative concluded that media outlets in many countries found the campaign to be propaganda and unlikely to succeed as long as U.S. foreign policy remained unchanged. While some posts continue to host events on Muslim life in America, the Shared Values Initiative’s centerpiece television campaign aired only for the holy month of Ramadan in the winter of 2002-03 and was subsequently discontinued. Additionally, the interactive Web site, “Open Dialogue,” is no longer in operation. Following the demise of the Shared Values Initiative, State launched the Arabic-language Hi magazine in July 2003 with an annual budget of $4.5 million. Designed to highlight American culture, values, and lifestyles, Hi was directed at Arab youth in the Middle East and North Africa and was expected to influence Arab youth to have a more positive perception of the United States. Hi was produced by a private sector magazine firm, and State estimated its circulation to be about 50,000 in the Arab world. One official in Egypt, however, said that of the 2,500 copies the embassy distributed monthly to newsstands in Cairo, often as many as 2,000 copies were returned unsold (see fig. 2). State officials in Washington noted that, as a matter of practice, these copies were subsequently redistributed to public institutions in Egypt, such as schools and libraries. According to embassy officials, they were unable to sell many copies of Hi because it was so new and relatively expensive.