The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

20 MAY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL prerequisite for the PD Implementa- tion Plan, was due last January for those regions. Public affairs officers will need incentives and training to adopt the new mindset. Regional bureaus will need to enforce compliance and use the system’s capabilities. And R will need to continue providing both thought leadership and money. It will take several years for the new system to become the norm. The payoff will be a more muscu- lar public diplomacy. It’s a campaign approach—setting a strategy to solve a problem and evaluating progress at regular intervals. Instances of this new approach have been evident over the past few years. For example, the under secretary’s office has allocated extra funds to posts on the basis of competitive proposals specifying desired outcomes. That rewarded strate- gic thinking. This past year, the Washing- ton PD bureaus have been conducting campaigns to advance global policy issues and cultural exchange initiatives. Public diplomacy is about more than getting people to like America. It is an instrument to promote change and sway audiences in ways that benefit the United States: an investment treaty, perhaps, or military cooperation, or action to combat disease or limit damage to the environ- ment. The entire country team has a stake in making PD more strategic. The pub- lic affairs section is meant to be a full partner with the political, economic and other mission elements. The new tools and approach of the PD strategic cycle enhance the capabilities of the embassy at large. Leaders in Washington, and especially those posted abroad, should give public diplomacy’s strategic cycle the support that it needs. n It’s a campaign approach—setting a strategy to solve a problem and evaluating progress at regular intervals.