The Foreign Service Journal, March 2011

M A R C H 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 hile watching the 2009 film “The Hurt Locker,” I was haunted by the little children hiding behind window curtains and peering through doorways, watching with wide uncompre- hending eyes the alien robotic creatures roaming their streets. What did those little Iraqi children take away from watching the huge, intimidating American soldiers in heavy armor and with massive guns clamoring down Baghdad’s streets? How could they possibly comprehend what they saw daily in their neighborhoods? Was this really the way to build a new Iraq? Could infantry laden with armor and guns meaningfully “befriend” the people? Will these children grow up with fond feelings for America and want to cooperate with us? I am dubious. As we pull our troops out of Iraq after eight long years of war, we need to re-examine our priorities. Shouldn’t we, as a nation, put more emphasis on “promoting peace” than on “fighting terrorism”? One program that has been changing hearts and minds about America through “soft power” for 60 years is the In- ternational Visitors Leadership Program. As a seasonal pro- gram officer at the Meridian International Center, working with the International Visitors Program, I have been espe- cially privileged to have “promoting international under- standing” as my job description. The IVLP works to reverse ingrained anti-American atti- tudes by presenting a very different picture of the United States to some 5,000 visitors, all selected to come to the U.S. each year as guests of the State Department’s Bureau of Ed- ucational and Cultural Affairs. Designing and coordinating these professional exchange programs for up-and-coming young leaders in various fields, to meet and exchange ideas with their American counterparts, has made me step back and think about what our nation really stands for and the val- ues we espouse and hold dear. I have sought to give these visitors, most of whom have never been to the United States before, a broad taste of all that is American — a personal experience of our cultural di- versity, our generosity, and our spirit of volunteerism. They might meet a member of Congress, have dinner or stay overnight in an American home, attend a town hall meeting, meet the head of a major corporation, or work as a volunteer in a soup kitchen. They spend their free time strolling the streets of American cities and towns, mingling with people and attending cultural events. A Broad Taste of America During their three weeks in the U.S., these visitors wit- ness firsthand how Americans live and work — and that is what most impresses them. There is no hard sell. Average Americans, just being themselves, are enough to bring words of praise from many IVLP participants. An Iraqi teacher of English as a Second Language, who took part in one of my C HANGING H EARTS AND M INDS T HE I NTERNATIONAL V ISITORS L EADERSHIP P ROGRAM IS A STRIKING EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF EFFECTIVE “ SOFT POWER ” DIPLOMACY A MERICA NEEDS TO PRIORITIZE . B Y J OANNE G RADY H USKEY Joanne Grady Huskey is a seasonal program officer at the Meridian International Center and a member of a Foreign Service family that has served in Beijing, Chennai, Nairobi and Taipei. A graduate of Harvard University, she is the au- thor of The Unofficial Diplomat (New Academia/Scarith Books, 2009), a volume in the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training’s Memoirs and Occasional Papers Se- ries. She presently resides in Bethesda, Md. W